Microsoft has announced that ZTE, Fujitsu, and Acer will be joining the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 party later in the year. 

The companies will be joining HTC, LG, and Samsung who’ve already got handsets on the market, and of course Nokia who announced in February that it would be making Windows Phone 7 it’s lead operating system going forward.

Achim Berg, the corporate vice president of Windows Phone marketing confirmed the new partners at the company’s London VIP event on Tuesday suggesting that all the companies listed would be releasing new smartphones in the near future and presumably before the year is out.

Berg also confirmed that Nokia would be expected to announce it’s Windows Phone 7 plans over the summer, rather than Autumn - the scheduled launch date of Windows Phone 7 Mango.

While Acer, and Fujitsu will be welcomed additions to the stable, it’s ZTE that will be the one to watch with the Chinese company aggressively trying to emulate HTC’s rise to success over the last couple of years.

The move is also likely to mean, combined with Nokia, the launch of more entry level Windows Phone 7 phones to appeal to the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, otherwise know as the BRIC nations.

By the way, the confirmation from Microsoft officially confirms the news Pocket-lint broke in February that Acer would be launching a Windows Phone 7 smartphone in this autumn.