Easier Said Than Done: To Defeat Oneself and Defeat the Match, Google is Pushing Google Play Store in China

Google is said to be in negotiation with Chinese smartphone makers in hopes of installing Google Play on their products before their rolling out of the assembly line. In return for this, every pre-installed smartphone could receive $1 as the subsidy. But still it’s a hard nut to crack for Google to push Google Play here in China.

(Chinese Version)

When a storm is brewing, there are tom-toms beating on the street. Just as there was no shortage of guesswork going on before Apple’s WWDC, rumors had it that Google Play would soon be launched in China just before the kick-off of Google I/O 2015, Google’s biggest event of the year. As the world’s biggest app store, Google Play has long been drooling over the market of China mainland --- the biggest Android marketplace on earth.

Google is said to be in negotiation with Chinese smartphone makers in hopes of installing Google Play on each handset before its rolling out of the assembly line. In return for this, every pre-installed smartphone could receive $1 as the subsidy. Some may not think it’s quite a big deal.  However, if Android shares the same unit output with Xiaomi, the annual subsidy from Google on Google Play would reach ¥600 million! Still it’s a hard nut to crack for Google to push Google Play here in China. But maybe Google wants something different. Maybe it’s just a tentative attempt to test the waters.

Chances are low, for Google has to defeat itself and defeat its match

The first obstacle Google must face is itself. Since its all-out withdrawal a couple of years ago, Google has long been plotting a comeback but only to receive, time and again, cold welcomes. What they need is cunning maneuverings to throw away the toughest curve ball handed by the Chinese government, that is, the increasingly tightened-up regulations.

That is to say, Google Play has to whitewash its core services that appear to be too “Google”; to become an ordinary app store before gaining access to the mainland market. That would make Google lose some of its features and eventually lead to a question: how could Google by then gain a foothold in Chinese market? That’s, for Google, a judgment call between Scylla and Charybdis, a fight within itself.

Even if Google succeeded, Google Play would have to “KO” other competitors before “stage clear”.  Statistics show that more than 400 out of 600 Android app stores around the globe are in China mainland, whose market layout is rather stable.

Tencent’s Myapp, Baidu App Store and 360 Assistant are the “big three” that could hardly be challenged. Third party featured app stores such as Wandoujia, AppChina and GfanStore are also hard to be crowded out. Plus, many smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei and Lenovo have their own app stores pre-installed, again leaving no space for new players. Then why should we choose Google Play? Its app numbers are no greater than the others’, especially when the distribution rights of some apps here in China are only exclusive to Tencent and Baidu. Also Google does no better jobs in terms of localization; not to mention real time available access to the server; disconnections are not unexpected.

All in all, if Google Play wants to come to China, it shall first challenge itself, then, its rivals. While the future might be bright, the road is doomed to be tortuous.

It’s more of a symbolic gesture to get ready for a comeback

Since chances are low, I suppose that what Google really wants to do is test the waters by expressing its willingness to negotiate and subsidize, for they might smell a smack of opportunities to come back in hopes that mainland smartphone makers may help them crack the market by imposing pressures on the public and the government under a luring subsidy offer. After all Google Play is by nature an app store which, some believe, could hardly make any difference.

In that case, Google Play is just the first step for Google to blow open the fortresses of the mainland market and wait to make a comprehensive comeback.  It is more of a symbolic gesture. If it works out, I believe Google will speed up to make the next move; if not, just a dummy run.

A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit; search engine, email and music services are sure to be censored and boycotted in China; under such circumstances, Google has no other choices but to choose Google Play as a wedge to nudge open Chinese market which has the capacity of hundreds of millions of Android smartphones. Give Google a big hand!

 If it doesn’t work out, Google has to wait

To tell you the truth, I do look forward to Google Play’s coming to China to set a good example for other app stores. Literally speaking, Google is the founding and leading company operating on Android systems; it is entitled and enabled to set the rules, to clear the chaos and to prevent unfair play in this industry.

So far it has not been confirmed yet that Google Play will come to China. Probably the story would end up in vain. There’s no need for the loaded Google to fret over money spent in negotiating with Chinese smartphone makers. But time has also been frittered, which became the biggest sunk cost for Google. Sadly, they can do nothing, but wait.

 

[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @Constantine , please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Vanessa Hao (Senior Translator at ECHO), working for TMTpost.

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