Android smartphone owners in many countries around the world rely primarily on Google's Play Store to download apps and updates. However, in China, the situation seems to be different as the Play Store is blocked.
However, Google is not giving up the fight so easily and intends to make the Play Store available to the people of China, and in fact, the technology giant is in talks with the Chinese Internet company, NetEase.
There's no guarantee that a deal will close at this point, but Google is certainly a valuable partner for NetEase. Additionally, AlphabetEric Schmidt said that Google needs a business partner to negotiate with the Chinese government to bring the Play Store to the country.
Because China's business sector is subject to many government restrictions, it's no surprise that the Play Store has to make some modifications before being offered to the public.
Apple, in turn, had to remove some apps from the App Store in order for the service to launch in China. In particular, the New York Times was recently removed from the Chinese stores. It will be very interesting to see which apps Google will have to keep from the Play Store. In addition, Google will have to host some app data, which is one of the main requirements for app developers in the country.
For now, Chinese Android smartphone users rely on third-party sources like Alibaba and Tencent to download apps and updates.
