China More Open To Google Inc (GOOGL) App Store, Apple Inc. (AAPL) Aims For Clarity: Sascha Segan

China may now be more open to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s App Store while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) aims for clarity after being pushed by the European Union, Sascha Segan of PCMag discussed in an interview on CNBC.

The comments from the PCMag lead analyst were made after Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was reported by The Wall Street Journal to be planning a re-entry into the Chinese market. More specifically, the publication said two sources revealed that the Silicon Valley giant is planning to unveil a new Android app store in China.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), one of the most profitable companies in the world this year, was also said to be complying with a demand from the European Union for more transparency in its app store.

“I feel like right now, China might be more open to [bringing Google’s app store to China] than they were in the past especially since China has all of these thriving local app stores,” he said.

However, he noted that if Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were to reenter China with a special app store for the country, it would not dominate initially specifically because of the presence of these localized app stores in the country.

According to Segan, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) may also be opening its app store to Chinese developers which would let developers in the Asian country to more easily market games through the Play Store.

Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reported to have changed the “free” labels on its app store to “get,” a move Segan said was triggered by the European Union pushing the company to be more transparent that games, though appearing to be free upon download, would still cost money through in-app purchases.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s change follows a similar change in the Google Play Store.

Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global owned 923,500 Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares by the end of the first half of the year. Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management reported ownership of about 10.57 million Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares by the end of the same period.