PhonePe plans to take on Google Play Store; to launch an app store

With the Competition Commission of India (CCI) opening the gate to making Google change its mobile business model in India, this has opened the floodgates to players to conceive their application (app) stores. Financial technology and payments giant PhonePe will soon give Google stiff competition in this space.

Walmart-owned PhonePe is in the process of launching its app store for Android users in India and has found support in original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).  

“We have been having multiple conversations with all OEMs in India and everyone is very receptive, especially since CCI has clarified that Google cannot engage in anti-competitive practices. All OEMs are excited about PhonePe building a localised app store for the Indian market. We expect to be live on all Android OEMs within the first few months of launch. We have already closed the terms with one of the largest OEMs and are trying to get the others rapidly aboard over the next few months,” said the company.

India has one of the largest consumer bases in the world. The app store PhonePe wants to build will be more localised — not just from a language perspective but also from a discovery and consumer interest perspective.

“Thus far, Google has blocked OEMs from supporting other app stores. However, the recent National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and CCI ruling has spelt out there is room for independent app stores to play in the Indian market. The timing is also favourable to us,” said a statement from the company.

An app store is a gateway for users to discover and download different kinds of apps. If you look at the Indian app store market, over 97 per cent of the market share lies with Google Play Store, and it is the dominant way for a user to discover and install apps.

PhonePe also clarified that it would not like to put an exact timeline on it. The current focus is to build an app store.

“Much like the PhonePe app or the recently launched Pincode app, we generally do a lot of internal and beta testing. We don’t rush into a launch,” said the company.