Google ready to jump back into China’s mobile market against stiff competition

[Jared Peters]

Google stepped out of the Chinese mobile market years ago, and since 2010 China has seen a ton of growth for many other manufacturers which puts Google in a sticky situation and six years behind some of its competition. However, the Chinese market is too big to ignore and we’ll likely see Google push its mobile app store back into the country sooner rather than later.

A mobile analytics firm measured how much of the market some of China’s most popular app stores currently hold, and Google’s own Play Store sits at number 10 with barely 3.5% penetration rate. Compare that to Tencent’s 18% penetration rate for its own app store, and even rates from competitors like Oppo, Huawei, and Xiaomi, and Google would have a long road ahead to get things back in full swing.

A problem that comes with facing many of these other manufacturers is that they’re all heavily invested in their own app stores and wouldn’t be likely to lend a hand to get Google Play on consumer devices. On top of that, Google Search hasn’t been available in China for years, so Google’s brand name won’t be doing it many favors in that particular situation.

Despite all of these road blocks, China is one of the most profitable countries in the world due to its large population. Google Play also offers more than just apps, bringing music, movies, and books along with games and apps. That’s something that very few other manufacturers bring to the table, which could give Google an edge on their competition.

However and whenever Google decides to move forward with getting the Play Store back into consumer hands in China, it’ll be an interested situation to watch.

source: re/code


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