Google's disappointing plan to return to China!

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There have been many reports that Google will return to China, and recently there has been news that Google may really return to China. However, the plan to return to China may be disappointing. The following is the full text of the article: It won’t be long before several Google apps will appear on the screens of mainstream domestic smartphones, the Google of China.

Rumors about Google's return to the Chinese market have been heard everywhere, mixed with netizens' expectations and imaginations. Finally, there is a follow-up to this matter: According to exclusive information we have obtained, Google plans to launch some services in the Chinese market and create a relatively complete set of service experiences, including the Play App Store, Play Games, Maps and Translation.

Google has already set up servers in China for internal testing. The latest version of the Play Store uses a red design and does not include music, books, and movies. Users will be able to purchase apps and games by binding UnionPay cards.

Of course, this also means that the service must comply with local laws and regulations, which is consistent with the product logic of Evernote's previous launch in China. Users use their mobile phones to register for a Chinese Google account, but the Chinese Google account system is independent of Google. In other words, your existing Gmail mailbox will not be able to log in to the Chinese Google account at that time.

We do not see core businesses such as Google Search in the list of returning products. We speculate that policy approval may not be the biggest obstacle in Google's return to China, but rather the struggle between Google's huge business opportunities and ideology and censorship mechanisms.

The book How Google Works records this debate among company management:

Many people within Google had different opinions on developing business in China, but "commercial considerations and the desire to change the current situation of information flow in China made us lean towards entering the Chinese market. Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google, "has always believed that entering the Chinese market is not only a wise business decision, but also the right choice from a moral point of view. Although Sergey has always held a different opinion on this, Larry has always shared the same view with Eric."

"Sidewinder" - side attack, this code name of the Play Store logo in the style of the Chinese flag found by Android Police from the Google Play unpacking seems to contain a metaphor of "saving the country in a roundabout way". After all, application distribution is one of the few services that has huge commercial prospects and does not touch the bottom line of value.

As Larry Page and Sergey Brin gradually faded out of Google's daily operations, Sundar Pichai, who had just ascended to the throne of power at Google, wanted to pursue the next billion-dollar market. He once said in an interview with Forbes:

“I don’t think the Chinese market is a black hole. It’s a huge opportunity and we can act as a supporting platform. In the future, we also have the opportunity to provide other services.”

In 2010, Google withdrew from China. Although Android dominates nearly 90% of the market in China, Google did not gain much from the Android dividend in China. On the contrary, in order to compete for the entrance of Android application distribution, a pattern of division has been formed in China, including Baidu 91, Wandoujia, and Tencent App Store, which has also created a chaotic situation such as confusing software versions, piracy, and rampant malware.

Logically, Google has to face several strong rivals that have grown under the new rules, but due to the independent account system and the lack of core businesses such as search and Gmail in China, the absolute advantage of Google system and application services no longer exists. In the process of expanding market share through pre-installed devices, smartphone companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei are unlikely to abandon their own channels, although according to the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement, domestic Open Mobile Alliance manufacturers must pre-install Google Play and other services that Google requires to be pre-installed.

In this way, the Chinese version of the Play Store is left with a semblance of a legitimate identity.

Perhaps Google's idea is not to compete directly with these third-party channels, but to reorganize and unify the already fragmented Android market in China, improve and coordinate better profit models, and help developers coordinate the missing profits on the Android system. After all, for developers, China is just one of more than 100 countries in the global market.