Late last year, there were murmurs that Google was looking to mend its relations with the Chinese government so that it could get its Google Play Services in China again. According to a Lenovo President of Mobile, Chen Xudong, who has inadvertently spilled on the situation, the prognosis is looking good and essentially confirmed that Google Play Services will be available in the Chinese smartphone market in 2016. It’s unclear whether Google is going to have to make any concessions with its China-specific Google Play apps, but presumably we’ll be finding out sooner rather than later.
If this is all new to you, you might be interested to know that Google exited China in 2010 after it had a messy falling out with the Chinese government. Essentially, the Chinese government wanted to censor and control what Google was able to do in the country, something which Google didn’t take kindly to. Times have changed, however, and the Chinese smartphone market is booming – ironically, thanks to the Android platform, but without Google’s apps. If Chen’s comments are true, Google will finally have its foothold in the Chinese market, but it still remains to be seen whether they’ll be able to make any headway after so long on the sidelines.
What do you think about Google’s changes in the Chinese smartphone market? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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