Russian search market is living through exciting times. Google is pushing Yandex very hard, and Yandex is pushing back, not only by series of strategic partnerships (Google & Firefox, Yandex & Skype, Yandex & Windows Phone, Yandex & Apple’s iOS 6, you name it), but also by launching new competing products.

In the last 6 months Yandex created 3 new products directly competing with Google’s: Yandex Browser – a challenger to Google’s Chrome, Yandex.Store – an alternative to Google Play, Yandex.Disc – the Russian DropBox (or Google Drive).

Earlier this week the CEO of Yandex Arkady Volozh (on the left in the video below) explicitly told the audience at F.ounders conference in Dublin, that Yandex is also considering creating their own version of Android, or “Android ecosystem”, as he put it:

 

This move was sort of expected after Yandex acquired SPB software, a leading mobile development company in Russia.

The plan for creating the “ecosystem” includes partnerships with phone manufacturers and mobile providers. It is rumored that 4 partners has already taken off with the Yandex.Store, for example: one of the largest mobile operators in Russia Megafon is to build they own app store, where Yandex will be acting as a white label, and 3 local tablet manufacturers Pocketbook, TeXet and 3Q.

Read more (in English) on http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/10/23/yandex-lining-up-its-own-android-version/.

Anna

Anna is a blogger and online marketing professional specializing in SEO and SEM for Russian search engines. To see more of Anna's posts, follow her on Twitter, or LinkedIn.

More Posts