Report: Google will comply with censorship laws to get Play into China

by Andrew Cunningham -

Android devices sold in mainland China aren't the same as Android devices sold in the US and elsewhere. Chinese devices often run a forked version of Android derived from Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code but without the Google apps and services that are usually included in other countries. That's because the Google Play store and related services aren't officially available in China—the company left China back in 2010 following the "Operation Aurora" cyber-attacks that have been attributed to the Chinese government. Google vowed to stop censoring Chinese search results and later began redirecting Chinese searches through Hong Kong, and its services in China have either been spotty or completely unavailable ever since.

Today The Information reports that Google is making plans to get a version of Google Play back into China and that it's willing to work within Chinese censorship law to do it. The company "will follow local laws and block apps that the government deems objectionable" in the interest of regaining control over its own operating system. Google also wants to help Chinese developers distribute their apps outside of China and help international developers sell their apps within China.

The company wants to make the move to a Google-blessed version of Android attractive by offering "new incentives to phone makers to upgrade Android phones to the latest versions of the operating system," though the exact incentives aren't mentioned. Similar Google initiatives like the Android Update Alliance and Android One have fared poorly in other countries, so it's not clear what Google can do in China to get different results.

Finally, the report says that Google also wants to get Android Wear into China, extending beyond standard phones and tablets into the still-nascent wearable market. There are plenty of AOSP-based wearables in China, but the official version of Wear uses Google Play Services just like the phones and tablets do.

The Chinese market is where much of the growth in smartphone shipments is coming from these days, and while Android does well there, Google isn't making any money from it. This move, which could happen "as early as this fall," could give Google a foothold in the wider Android marketplace in China, though it will be an uphill battle against forks from companies like Xiaomi.