Google forces Acer to cancel Chinese smartphone launch

Search giant reportedly threatened to tear up Android deal over smartphone running rival OS

Gadget maker Acer has reportedly cancelled the launch of a new smartphone powered by an operating system made by Chinese search giant Alibaba, after Google threatened to cancel its Android licensing agreement with the firm.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the last-minute cancellation came after Google expressed its concerns about the device to Acer.

Acer's CloudMobile A800 was originally set to launch in the UK early in September running Android. But Acer seems to have had a change of heart, and decided to swap launch country - and more significantly operating systems.

That launch has now been mothballed, thanks to Google's intervention.

"Acer will continue to communicate with Google and the company still wants to launch the new smartphone based on Alibaba software," an unnamed Acer official was quoted as saying in the WSJ.

Google has not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

But if the reports are accurate - and Acer did indeed back out at the search giant's behest, it underlines the importance of the Chinese market to Android.

Android has proved a smash hit in China, but Alibaba's Aliyum OS represents a significant threat.

Not only does the Chinese firm stomp all over Google's core search business in the country, it's mobile operating system is also capable of running Android apps - so the lock-in enjoyed by mobile OS makers does not apply.