Windows Phone Marketplace: 70 000 mobiles applications

Windows Phone now has a catalogue of more than 70 000 applications available to it, according to the director of Microsoft China, who was commenting on the arrival of the mobile platform in the country.

Microsoft and Nokia officially launched their first Windows Phone smartphones in China on the 21st of March, with the country now being the largest smartphone market in the world, and soon to be the largest market for mobile applications.

The director of Microsoft China used the event to state that the mobile platform now has more than 70 000 applications, with a solid 300 new programs being added each day.

They are still a long way behind the Android and iOS platforms which each have hundreds of thousands of applications in their respective portals, but the Windows Phone catalogue continues to rapidly expand as they regularly open new markets.

The director of Microsoft China has therefore congratulated the 100 000 Windows Phone developers for their effort, indicating that the time taken to certify applications before being put online had been reduced by three days, with two thirds of submitted programs being approved on their first submission.

Nokia explained the importance of the Windows Phone smartphone range in China to assist in the take-off of the platform, while the Tango update has lowered hardware requirements, opening the way for entry level smartphones in emerging markets.