The new smartphone landscape, where Chinese alliances are vital There is something of a theme to this week’s issue. As China (and soon India) become the engines behind the mobile market, US and European firms must partner, and even merge, with rising stars from those countries – not erect protectionist walls or try vainly to keep global leadership with their own efforts alone. This is why a rumored Tshinghua-Micron deal would not be all bad news for the US, particularly for Intel, which partners both. In the smartphone world, Google services are effectively shut out of China, meaning that a specific Chinese ecosystem is being created around Android, but with Baidu and Alibaba offerings at their heart, not Google’s…