Android phones make their way to China

Even more good news for Android today, HTC has recently announced that they have been working up a deal with China Mobile to bring handsets sporting the Google-backed platform into the country. HTC will be using their Magic smartphone model for this latest endeavor, which will be powered by a localized version of Android to meet the needs of China Mobile – though what exactly this localization entails isn’t clear. Hopefully such changes won't serve to make Android less open, as that has been one of its selling points since the beginning.

Other manufacturers have their sights set on China as well, including Lenovo, Samsung and LG. HTC may get a first to market advantage, though; if all goes as planned their first Android-based phones for China will go on sale next month. The move has the potential to greatly increase Android's market share, which will then put the onus on the Open Handset Alliance to ensure the platform gets the level of support it will need. They may face interesting challenges with the addition of a market like China, with “modified” versions of Android potentially becoming commonplace. Supporting various iterations of Android won't be an easy task.