China is a notoriously tough market to get into for a western tech company, regardless of how prolific you may be. No surprise then that Google is supposedly in talks with Chinese internet company NetEase that may see both companies form a partnership to launch the Play Store in the country.
According to a report by The Information, NetEase has approached Google with the idea of launching Google’s App Store in China under the name of Google Play. While both parties have yet to publically comment about the matter, should the deal manage to go through, Google would be able to gain more control over the Chinese app market, a sector that has thus far been dominated by the likes of Tencent and Alibaba.
Needless to say, Google will also need to compromise on the application it hosts on a China-based Play Store. Seeing as the Chinese government doesn’t pull punches when it comes to censorship, Google will need to toe the line accordingly or risk getting booted out of the country altogether.
Source: The Information, Engadget
