Is it too late for Google to return to its home country by starting with a customized version of Google Play?

Although there are rumors every year that Google is returning to China, this is the first time that the British Reuters has officially released the news.

On September 5, Beijing time, Reuters quoted a report from technology blog Information that five years after leaving the Chinese market, Google is expected to return to the Chinese mainland market as early as this fall, first launching a customized version of the Google Play app store, and then Google's other services will be rolled out in the form of customized versions.

Whether it is the huge user base in mainland China or the large number of Android device manufacturers in the country, it is inevitable for Google to return to China. However, after letting go for five years, this return journey is not so easy.

Android M & Android Wear: Google has to come back

Using the "customized version" to bring Google Play, which has been unable to connect to the Internet in mainland China, back to China, the Android ecosystem has once again developed to a new stage, which is undoubtedly an important driving force for Google's return this time.

On May 28, 2015, the Android M operating system was officially launched at the Google I/O conference. Among the six major improvements, more than half were related to payment and third-party applications. If Google wants new businesses such as Android Pay to be effective in China in the future, it obviously needs to do it itself.

In addition, Android Wear has become an important strategy for Google in the field of smart wearable devices. However, just like other things related to Google, without "special means", most of the current Android Wear products are unusable even if they enter the Chinese market. Especially for technologies like Google Now voice recognition, the only options left for domestic users are Apple's Apple Watch or products like Samsung's Gear series of smart watches that use their own operating systems. This is also a situation that Google does not want to see.

AOSP devices are deeply rooted. Will domestic users buy into Google's approach?

Google's return to China has won constant applause. Firstly, many people praised the fact that there is one less Internet service that needs to be accessed through a remote site. Secondly, the entry of Google's official Google Play app store into China will also help purify the already chaotic Android software market.

But whether this will really work remains a question.

According to the "2015Q1 China Mobile App Store Quarterly Monitoring Report" released by iiMediaResearch, in the first quarter of 2015, the number of active users of China's third-party mobile app stores reached 420 million. Nearly 60% of Chinese mobile Internet users use third-party mobile app stores as their main application download channel, while other users mainly choose the application stores built into mobile phone manufacturers or operators.

After five years of "disconnection", the result is undoubtedly that most Android users in mainland China have become accustomed to life without Google. Even though Google Play is of great significance to the formulation of industry standards and software developers, for a large number of ordinary users, it may just be a role similar to "XX Mobile Assistant" or "XX App Store". To reflect the value of Google, it is necessary to change the usage habits of domestic Android users at this stage, which is by no means an easy task.

On the other hand, it is not easy for Google to win the support of more domestic mobile phone manufacturers. Frankly speaking, Google's open source project AOSP has not only allowed Android to quickly occupy the market, but also caused Google to gradually lose control of Android. This is also the main reason why Android has occupied 85% of the smartphone market share but its profits are not as good as Apple's iOS.

Devices using AOSP can completely strip away Google services and join the manufacturer's own ecosystem based on Android. The most well-known example is Amazon's Kindle device. In China, various UIs and OS developed based on Android are flourishing, making AOSP devices abound. What's more serious is that domestic users seem to be more willing to accept the localized usage experience brought by domestic AOSP devices. Third-party ROMs represented by Xiaomi MIUI have a much higher influence on ordinary users than native Android.

There was even news that Google would provide cash subsidies to manufacturers who agreed to carry the customized Chinese version of Google Play, but this sounds just like Intel's earlier support for some southern tablet manufacturers to use x86 processors. It may still have little effect in front of some mobile phone manufacturers whose shipments easily reach hundreds of millions of units.

For example, Xiaomi, which sold nearly 35 million smartphones in the first half of 2015, has clearly stated that the Android system version does not correspond to the MIUI version. MIUI 7, which is partially developed based on Android 4.4, can also realize most of the functions of Android 5.0. This may also indicate from one level that some domestic mobile phone manufacturers may subconsciously be indifferent or even unwelcome to Google's return.

It is foreseeable that in the short term, the only suitable carriers for customized Google services may be Motorola devices equipped with native Android systems and a few other devices such as Nexus that Huawei will participate in OEM in the future.

As for Google's "Chinese Dream", after agreeing to store all data in mainland China, in addition to Android, can we still expect other services such as Chrome browser and Google search? Or, we still hope that Google's sentiments will not change due to the change of region.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.