Just a general question from someone who never worked with the app store: What's the reasoning for not making an app available in all countries?
1. Doing some experiments on the marketing side, especially keywords, before launching everywhere. The first week/month on the app store gives a boost to keyword rankings that can be leveraged to build good traction. Unfortunately it also requires some experimenting to get them right, so this initial launch in 1-2 countries can provide that data.
2. Building some traction and credibility so that when we launch on the other app stores, we can build on that (for e.g. #1 on the Canadian App store would have a nice charm to it, if we achieve it!). This again helps with point 1 (better traction in launch week/month).
3. Ensuring Support is not overwhelmed by unforeseen issues. We have tested a lot, but never know what kind of crashes or even minor bugs might be seen in the wild. We want to be awesome at customer experience.
4. Gathering feedback in general.
Another mystery resolved!