When we think of the Android operating system and Google, the company behind it, we tend to think about the Play Store, or Google Play(the web based browser version)since this is the place where we get most of our apps and game installs from. There are other avenues of course, but for the most part the Play Store is your outlet for anything and just about everything. The Play Store isn’t available on all devices, as some Android based OS’s like the Amazon Kindle Fire tablets are running a forked version without Google apps and services. The Play Store is also not available everywhere when it comes to an out of the box experience with handsets, China currently being one of those locations.
That could soon change though as The Information is reporting that Google’s Play Store could be coming to China at some point in the future. Google’s presence in China hasn’t been around for years for various reasons, including things like attempts to steal intellectual property and alleged attempts to hack into their systems and services, and of course censorship of Google’s services played a part in their decision to withdraw from operations in China too, which naturally resulted in no presence of the Play Store either. That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to install the Play Store onto devices within the country, the apk can always be side loaded, but this would mark for a huge change with the app being readily available(officially)on devices right out of the box like it is for consumers here in the U.S.
It’s also said that China makes up half of the users of the Android operating system, which opens up a whole other level of the market for Google. How soon this could all happen is uncertain, but the fact that it’s even a possibility after the way things have been between Google and the Chinese government is somewhat astounding. If the Play Store app officially enters the Chinese market, as sources familiar with the matter are claiming is a plan that Google is working on, Play Store usership numbers could skyrocket. For now, this is something to think of as just a hopeful idea. However crazy some ideas might seem though, Google tends to dream big and this is not something that is entirely out of reach.