Smartphones googled licenses – Kommersant

Google has begun refusing to license its services to Russian smartphone manufacturers, market participants told Kommersant. In order to receive new licenses and updates from the American company, players have begun to classify their products as international. Some manufacturers use the MicroG add-on, which allows you to use Google services without official installation. Experts add that Google is not always able and willing to track the ultimate beneficiaries of the licenses received by Chinese manufacturers that assemble “Russian” smartphones.

A Kommersant source in the Russian electronics market said that Google is increasingly refusing GMS licenses (Google Mobile Services, it includes YouTube, Google Play, maps, etc.) to domestic manufacturers of smartphones and tablets. According to him, as a result, vendors obtain a license from Google through production sites that position “Russian” devices as international. Therefore, the interlocutor of Kommersant explains, such smartphones do not have a pre-installed RuStore store (developed by VK).

Another interlocutor of Kommersant assured that Russian manufacturers “are working to meet the requirements for pre-installing applications.” “But the process requires automation and is slower than that of large vendors,” admits a Kommersant source. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Tecno, Vivo, Realme, and others, have already started pre-installing RuStore (see Kommersant dated April 20).

Google may refuse certification to Russian smartphone manufacturers, another source in one of the vendors confirms: “Such concerns were expressed, among other things, by some Chinese factories that received a deauthorization notification in case of cooperation with Russian manufacturers.” Kommersant’s interlocutor, however, admits that manufacturers “find a way to get GMS certification.”

Among the Russian vendors of smartphones and tablets on the Android system are brands such as BQ, F +, Dexp (owned by the DNS retailer), Ayya T1 (Rostec), Aquarius. Almost all of them are made in China. The largest Russian manufacturer of data storage systems and servers, Yadro (part of ICS Holding, which has been on the US SDN list since February) has announced its entry into the Android consumer tablet market. (see Kommersant dated April 5). At the same time, demand for Russian smartphones is falling: in the first quarter, their sales fell by 53% to 46.9 thousand units (see Kommersant dated April 27).

President of the Aquarius Group Vladimir Stepanov specified that its devices have their own Android Open Source Project build as the basic software: “If the customer needs replicated applications, we can use Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) or the microG open source project.”

Yadro, Rostec, F+ and DNS declined to comment. BQ did not respond to a request. In October 2022, the fairly well-known Russian smartphone vendor Inoi began to position itself as an Estonian brand – then the company did not explain the reason (see Kommersant of October 26). Now Inoi has not answered Kommersant’s questions.

“Probably, Google cannot always track the ultimate beneficiaries of the licenses that Chinese productions receive,” one of Kommersant’s interlocutors believes, trying to explain the realism of the scheme. Attorney for KA Pen & Paper, Viktor Rykov, clarifies that tracking the ownership structure of foreign counterparties is “generally difficult,” as various international verification systems are not always updated in a timely manner. In addition, the lawyer notes, information about the owners of companies has never been completely public: “Accordingly, if the ownership structure includes not only limited liability companies, but also JSCs, then such information is even more difficult to verify.”

In this case, we are talking about “reformatting cooperation between Russian manufacturers and Chinese factories, their adaptation to new realities,” says Vitaly Mankevich, chairman of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. In addition, he emphasizes, “the Russian market is important for Google, so the company will try to maintain its position.” An interlocutor of Kommersant among electronics manufacturers confirms that Google has a total of about 100 million users in the Russian Federation and the company “does not want to part with this asset.”

Timofey Kornev