So much for the moniker of “Don’t be Evil.” Google—in a move that Android fans would trash Apple for—has basically forced Acer to stop supporting alternatives to Android. Acer, who was preparing to announce a new smartphone which as suppose to go on sale Friday and would be running the Aliyun OS from Chinese company Alibaba, unexpectedly cancelled their event. So what caused this bizarre cancellation? Google, apparently.
Alibaba reported to CNET, that Acer was contacted by Google at the last minute and basically told them that if they launch a smartphone with a competing OS, that they would cease their partnership and no longer cooperate with Acer. So much for open source, huh. Alibaba released the following statement to CNET:
“Our partner was notified by Google that if the product runs Aliyun OS, Google will terminate its Android-related cooperation and other technology licensing with our partner,” according to a statement e-mailed to CNET. “We respect and understand our partner’s decision to postpone the introduction of the phone, and are dismayed by the impact this dispute has had on our partner.”
So far, neither Google or Acer has commented on the situation, but I find it very disturbing that Google would do this to a respected OEM, especially when Android is suppose to be open source. This is a bizarre situation, I can’t understand why Google would care what Acer does, I don’t see Google pitching a fit over Samsung and HTC for supporting both Android and Windows Phone. I guess Google just doesn’t want any more competition in the Asian market, either way, if this is indeed true, it sounds a little harsh and cut throat to me.