More ARCore partners are "coming soon," Google teased.

The search giant isn't a stranger to this kind of end run. When it wanted to bring Android Wear to China, it initially teamed up with Mobvoi to make the platform available. And in both cases, the motivation is the same. If Google didn't make the technology available in China, it risked ceding control of key technology to either third-party Android developers or direct competitors like Apple (whose ARKit is readily available in China). No matter how ARCore fares in the country, this keeps Google's foot in the door.