The Android Market is adding 20 new countries where developers can submit paid applications. The new countries include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Eric Chu, of Android mobile platform for Google, posted the news yesterday at the Android Developer blog. Until today, the Android Market had only supported paid application from 14 countries. Chu wrote that aside from the 20 countries announced today, 18 additional countries will be announced in the coming weeks.
In addition, Android Market users from 32 countries will be able to buy apps, with the addition of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden and Taiwan.
“Since we launched Android and Android Market, we have seen the population of Android users and devices expand into many countries. This widespread adoption has brought with it growing interest in Android Market’s support for the buying and selling of paid applications in these additional countries,” Chu wrote in his post.
Developers have the choice to target or exclude any of the new markets available to them.
The Android Market is nearing 100,000 apps available to download and the need to expand support for paid apps is seen as the next step in growth for the market as more Android devices become available in more countries.