In the wake of the standoff between Google and the Chinese government over intrusion attacks and censorship, Motorola has decided to forge ahead with its plans for Android device sales in China without Google. Motorola has downplayed the effects of the Google dispute publicly, but shareholders have been vocal behind closed doors regarding Motorola’s position in China being affected by Google’s pending decision to pull out as it works through its turnaround riding on the success of its Android-based devices.
To that end, Motorola has announced that it will release devices via China Unicom as well as offer access to China’s most popular search engine in Baidu. Motorola will also forge new search agreements with other providers while developing its own app store for sales in China in cooperation with the aforementioned carrier, as it seeks to bolster its turnaround effort centered around Android.
The manufacturer is seeking to increase its current 2% marketshare after having nearly 20% marketshare in the middle of the decade in large part due to manufacturing devices specifically for the Chinese market, such as the former Ming series of Linux-based smart devices with handwriting recognition.
[…] follows Google’s standoff with the Chinese government over censorship of search results on the search providers Chinese […]