Looks like Tencent has launched a new Android apps search engine that’s called Haina (pictured above). The search engine allows users to not only search but also see ratings, download counts, and screenshots of the apps before downloading. The app search function is very similar to Google Play’s. The major and perhaps the most important difference is that this Android app search engine is tailored for the Chinese market. Every app featured is in Chinese.
Tencent has been pretty active in introducing services for the Android platform. It also owns an Android app store that opened last September and also has this “iTunes-esque” application for Windows users to sync their apps with their Android phones. Yesterday we also heard rumors that Tencent has invested in Lewa, an Android-based OS. This series of events seem to suggest that a new QQ Android smartphone could well be on the way.
If that is true, it will add to the already very crowded market of homegrown Android-based phones in China. The mobile space is heating up in China and everyone is banking on Android. Google could well sit back happily as usage increases and it gains a foothold in China – not through search but through mobile, which will certainly be a big market in the future.
[Hat tip: CIW]
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