SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc.’s Android mobile operating system “should flourish” in China, notwithstanding the company’s pledge to stop censoring Internet search results in that country, chief financial officer Patrick Pichette said Monday.
Asked about the fate of Google’s other products and business opportunities in China given the company’s dispute with Chinese authorities, Pichette noted that Android is an open-source platform available to a variety of partners and should do well in that country.
Pichette made his comment during a webcast in which officials discussed Google’s mobile business.
Google appears increasingly likely to shut down its Chinese-language search engine, two months after saying it planned to stop following government censorship requirements on its Chinese site, .
Some analysts have speculated that Google’s mobile aspirations in China could take a hit if the Internet giant decides to defy authorities in that country.
There were signs that Google’s partners were already hedging their bets. Handset maker Motorola Inc. last week agreed to add Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search and map capabilities to its Android smartphones, starting in China during the current quarter.
Google has been in talks with China to determine whether it will be able to continue to operate in the country even if it shuts down its Chinese search site.
Li Yizhong, China’s minister of industry and information technology, said last week that Google’s plan to stop filtering results would be “irresponsible” and he warned that the company would “have to bear the consequences” if it violates China’s rules.
