Unicom scraps Google search technology
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China's second-largest mobile company, China Unicom, has dropped cooperation with Google, as the Internet giant's Chinese partners begin to cut ties.
Unicom and its manufacturing partner Motorola have decided to remove Google's search engine from its new smartphones operating on Google's Android platform. The platform will be kept on the phone.
Unicom delayed the roll-out of its new Android-supported cell phones developed by Motorola and Samsung after Google's announcement that it might shut down its Chinese site, google.cn, in January. Unicom has yet to decide which search engine will replace Google.
"We are willing to partner with companies that abide by Chinese laws," said Lu Yimin, Unicom's president.
Although Google's revenue in China has suffered, Android has not made a concrete impact on the Chinese market.
Cell phone manufacturers said Google's dispute with the government hasn't produced actual influence on the development of Android in China. Sony-Ericsson introduced its X10i product, based on Android platform, yesterday in what could be an important strategic move for the company this year.
China's largest mobile company, China Mobile, which uses Google's search engine on its home page, hasn't made any announcement about their cooperation.
"If Google only provides technical support to China Mobile, such cooperation won't be affected," said Liu Bin, a telecommunications industry analyst at Macquarie Securities.
Google's global revenue is unlikely to be affected much because its Chinese market accounts for only a small portion, though it is risking potential revenue and other opportunities in China's rapidly growing mobile market.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has 384 million Internet users and 745 million mobile phone users.
