Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Vice President and Greater China President Liu Yun has stepped down, according to an official press release from the company. The release stated that Yun had decided to leave the company in order to pursue other opportunities.
The current head of the Google Partner business segment in Europe, Scott Beaumont, will take Yun’s place, at the head of the company’s Chinese business. The new man will not have an easy time as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) head in the Communist country.
Google’s Censorship Troubles
China has been a battleground for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) since 2010, when a disagreement with the government of the country resulted in Google deciding to stop censoring searches. The company was forced to move the mainstay of its operations to Hong Kong as a result, and its ability to operate inside the Chinese market was greatly hampered.
At this point, Liu Yun had been on the job as the company’s Greater China President for just a couple of months. He oversaw the complete overhaul of the firm’s business there as it fell in popularity on government censorship, and eventually began to rise again with the smartphone revolution.
Inexpensive phones running Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating systems flooded the Chinese smartphone market. The trend has led to the company once again getting on the nerves of Chinese authorities. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has, however, had trouble actually making money in China.
Making Money in China
Despite the wild popularity of Android phones in China, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is unable to make much money from the world’s second largest economy. While hardware builders like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung are flocking to the country as the next big growth area, Google can’t make money off of its services and advertising.
Methods that Google normally uses to monetize Android sales are lost to it in China, as its services are often replaced by those of competitors. Scott Beaumont has his work cut out for him in dealing with this problem, and the many others he will face as the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) head in China.
On today’s market, shares in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose a fraction to $923.28. The company has seen strong gains of more than 30% so far in 2013, but its growth was tempered recently after stock went above $900 for just the second time in the company’s history.
