Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
The company is releasing an app store in the country
Google is currently in the deciding phase of either they should release their app store in China or not. According to the business and investment community, this is a really important step that the company has to take, especially in the Chinese market, which they almost completely left in 2010. A store like that will significantly help for the distribution of apps and games, and will improve the company’s effectiveness in the region. Even without Google’s presence in the app store market, there are few stores for Android apps in the country, which are also followed by a significantly high level of online piracy. This in turn forces many app developers to higher large teams to be in charge of the business relationship with these stores.
Google is hesitant if it really wants to enter this market, due to the high level of competition and the increased number of online pirates. In contrast to the US where there are only two major app stores, App Store by Apple for iPhone and iPad, and Play Store for Android devices. However, apart from the risks involved such an involvement Google has spotted a great and potentially really profitable opportunity to establish order in the current chaotic app store world in China.
The official spokesman of the company, however, has refused to make any comments on the topic, by explaining that Google’s efforts in this direction are still in early stages, and that many obstacles are present. A Chinese consulting firm, Marbridge Consulting, has expressed its opinion on the issue saying that Google’s concerns are reasonable because they will be entering a highly dense market with already established strong players like Qihoo 360 Technology, Baidu, and Tencent Holdings. Some analysts argue that for this particular endeavor Google may need to collaborate with a Chinese company. This will aim to find more effective ways for storing the apps and games in central databases, and will also allow Google to develop separate identification and payment systems.
The nature of the Chinese market also brings its own specifics and Google’s potential collaboration with a local firm could only be a positive. The website also points out that the world’s most popular search engine has already discussed its plans with some of the leading Chinese smartphones manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE. When asked about it both of these companies’ spokesmen said that they are not aware about any talks with Google at that time, but both agreed that the entering of a “big player” in the Chinese market can only be beneficial for the Chinese consumers of smartphones.
What’s Been Said…