Microsoft this week has revealed a list of countries that will be supporting the Windows Phone Marketplace, when Windows Phone 8 launches. Compared with giants such as Apple, Microsoft has struggled not just in the phone hardware market, but also on the availability of the application store, supporting just a third of what Android and iOS does. Apple recently announced that it would be advancing its share by supporting an additional 32 countries (primarily Asian states), racking its total countries supported to a huge 187. Upon the release of WP8, Microsoft will close the gap, offering a larger 180 stores. The Windows Phone Marketplace is seemingly on the road to becoming a rival to that of Apple's App Store, but whilst this is doable in a virtual environment, Microsoft severely lacks hardware market coverage to make event a dent in the Android and iOS empires. As of June 2012, Windows Phone only makes up a meager 5% of the marketshare, compared to the staggering 58% owned by iPhone. Remarkably, Microsoft seems to think they still have an edge over competitors, and we'll see when Windows Phone 8 launches this coming Autumn. Below is a full list of the countries that will be supported: