Does Google Play Stand A Chance in China?

Active users of China’s third-party mobile application stores reached 436 million in the third quarter of 2015 increasing 1.87% compared to the previous quarter according to iiMedia.

Competition among app stores in China tended to intensify among major providers and many small and medium sized app stores managed to compete for users based on special advantages.

The number of active users of the third-party app stores increased by 1.87% to 436 million in the third quarter of 2015.

Third-party app stores (such as 360 Mobile Guard) accounted for 54.4% market share in Q3 2015, followed by smartphone vendor app stores(such as Xiaomi App Store), mobile OS app stores, and telecoms network app stores.

Qihoo 360 (360 Mobile Guard), Tencent (Myapp) and Baidu (Baidu Mobile Assistant) dominate China’s third-party app store market. Market structure of third-party mobile app stores remained stable in the third quarter this year compared to the previous several quarters. However, Google Play, who may enter China by the end of this year according to Forbes, is predicted to change the current market structure in China.

Research data of iiMedia showed that nearly two-thirds smartphone users knew Google Play but users who had once used it were less than one-fifth. With Google exiting Mainland China market, many apps couldn’t be used unless being accessed via VPN.

Among users who had used Google Play, 60.9% used to download official and original applications, 34.8% believed that domestic application stores sometimes couldn’t meet their needs, and 30.4% could download apps which were unavailable in other stores. Fast updates speed and little junk plugins were also advantages of Google Play.

Only 10.7% mobile internet users don’t support Google Play entering China according to iiMedia and 60.8% are optimistic about the future of Google Play in China’s market. Overall, China’s mobile phone users are acceptable on Google Play while whether it can achieve breakthroughs remains a question mark.

38.5% users won’t download Google Playand 24.6% will download based on feedback of others. However, 24.6% will immediately download and use when Google Play is available in China.

Quality is an important reason to attract China’s mobile app store users. Among users who may use Google Play in the future, 42.7% hope to download official and original apps, 33.3% will try to use a foreign app store, and 28.0% will use the app store for fast app update speed.