Microsoft reportedly launching Chinese Windows Phones with Suning

By Tom Warren, on 28th Nov 11 2:12 pm with 8 Comments

Windows Phone 7.5

Microsoft is reportedly launching a set of Chinese Windows Phones in early 2012, according to reports.

The software giant has picked an initial retail launch partner in China to distribute the devices. Suning, a high street electronics retailer with 700 store in China, is expected to partner with Microsoft for the Windows Phone launch. QQ Finance reports that Microsoft will provide priority access to Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices for distribution in China.

Microsoft recently expanded its Windows Phone Marketplace to India and opened up its developer support in China. Windows Phone developers in China can submit applications to the Marketplace but end user support has not yet been enabled. Microsoft is expected to launch its Marketplace in China in early 2012 alongside a handset launch.

The software maker has also added a variety of Asian languages to Windows Phone 7.5 including support for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The input support varies from 12 character keyboards to handwriting support. Microsoft has also modified the Metro design of Windows Phone to accommodate for vertical text layout across panoramas and other native applications. Microsoft’s push into emerging markets is an important one for Windows Phone growth and the ability for Nokia, its close partner, to distribute low-cost Windows Phone devices.

  • http://techin5.com Jubbin Grewal @Techin5.com

    Good news, but not the best until they open up the Marketplace in China again (unless I missed that they have)

    • Anonymous

      i’m guessing they’re looking for a nokia type partner in china?

    • Guest

      Nokia is heavily focused on China. But MS is probably looking for others as well.

  • Adiwidya Imam Rahayu

    MS please do something about the Indonesian market, we have 240 million people and 200+ million of them have phone…  

    • http://techin5.com Jubbin Grewal @Techin5.com

      The problem is that is BlackBerry territory, and until you folks realize that is a doomed platform, it’s going to be hard to convice Indonesian’s to go WP7. But I also agree that the Marketplace should be expanded globally and faster.

    • Anonymous

      And China has over 1,300 million people.  But yeah, MS needs to get better at attacking all markets.  Google and Apple seem to be doing it easy enough and MS has been in this game longer then them.

    • Guest

      The problem is they’re now a minor player from a share perspective. There previous history doesn’t matter. And that makes it much harder to convince carriers to pick you up. You end up having to go with second and third tier players. It’s a catch 22; can’t become a major player unless tier 1 carriers promote you, and can’t get them to consider you unless you have market share. If Nokia can drive a lot more interest and unit sales, then it will get easier to attract more carriers.

  • http://twitter.com/AustinWilkes Austin Wilkes

    What about Weibo and Renren implementation? Seamless integration of at least Weibo into the native OS would be a key differentiator for MS compared to iOS.