Speaking at the time, Google said: “We’re excited to announce merchant support in China, enabling local developers to export and sell their apps to Google Play users”.
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Interestingly, the report claims that Google Play in China would be specifically designed for China and would not be connected to the current global version of Google Play.
Google has plans to launch a version of its Play Store in China next year, a new report reveals.
Since refusing to self-censor its search results was a sticking point in Google pulling its services out of China back in 2010, the company aims to comply with a few requests to filter content that might be interpreted as touchy by the country’s Communist Party. The company wants to use the Play Store as a launch pad to bring its other services, such as Gmail and Google Maps, into the country.
Meanwhile, market analysts believe that Google has lost its foothold on a majority of services such as search and video streaming to Chinese rivals. “There are a substantial number of freeways people get music in China that makes it hard for any service, especially from the West, to get into the market”, asserts analyst Rob Enderle. Instead, they access app stores from mobile device makers like Xiaomi and internet companies like Tencent and Baidu.
“Google Play would be a really good product for that because it’s not very sensitive”. China will be getting its own specialty app store that doesn’t connect with the rest of the world. As one of the largest markets on the planet, Google has apparently decided China is simply too big to ignore.
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Last month, Google said it would take a minority stake in Beijing-based artificial intelligence firm Mobvoi as part of a $75 million fundraising round, as the US search giant tries to rebuild its presence in China.
