China and Google’s relationship has been on the ropes since Google uncovered a Chinese hacking initiative that sought emails of Chinese dissidents, and it seems Motorola is expecting the worst. Motorola has announced that it will offer the Baidu search engine as an alternative to the default Google search engine on Android-powered Motorola smartphones in China. Baidu is China’s largest search engine, and Google’s top rival in the Chinese market. The move will give Motorola a viable search alternative for its Android phones, should Google decide to completely pull out of the China.
If Google does decide to leave the Chinese market to fend for its censored-self, it could hurt Motorola’s chances to make a big push with Android phones in China. Would you want to use a smartphone that’s powered by an operating system made by the search engine that just ceased all operations in your home country? Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts – they’d all be gone. Motorola isn’t saying it explicitly, but it seems Motorola is hedging their bets and hoping that offering an alternative to Google Search will be enough to attract customers to its Chinese Android offerings.
No word yet on how this announcement will affect the delay of two Motorola Android phones intended for China Unicom.
[Reuters via: MobileBurn]