Concerns over censorship, privacy, and security led Google to pull out of China back in 2010, but now that the country’s mobile market has become one of the most valuable in the world, it looks like Google is willing to overlook these issues if it means getting back into the Chinese mobile market. We heard rumors not too long ago that the company was in the final stages of negotiations with the Chinese government about returning, and now a new rumor suggests that a censored version of Google Play could launch in China as early as this fall.
Over 70% of the mobile market share in China belongs to our beloved Android operating system, even though Apple has been gaining ground thanks to aggressively entering the country. Apple’s growth in China is likely to continue as the company is committed to expanding its retail presence in China from 15 to 40 stores within the next two years. These tactics coupled with Google’s absence in China is something that should worry Google. You see, despite Android’s current dominance in China, your typical Android device sold in China greatly differs from what’s found elsewhere around the globe. Android phones or tablets in China are lacking Google services and applications. Google officially left China back in 2010 following cyber-attacks that were attributed to the Chinese government and all Google services are blocked via The Great Firewall of China, because Google vowed to not censor search results. As a direct result, Android devices in China sport various third-party application stores and services such as Baidu, which includes search, a mobile assistant, cloud storage, a browser, a photo app, and more.
