Your next smartphone can come pre-installed with India's own Indus Appstore

PhonePe is in advanced talks with major smartphone manufacturers to include its homegrown Indus Appstore in their devices

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The next time you buy a new smartphone, chances are high that you get home-grown Indus Appstore pre-installed in the device, which is being touted as a viable alternative to Google Play Store.

PhonePe is in advanced talks with two major smartphone manufacturers to include its Indus Appstore in their devices. This initiative aims to enable the home-grown alternative to Google Play Store to reach 150 million users by the end of the year, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The report quoted Akash Dongre, co-founder of Indus Appstore, as saying, “Indus Appstore has currently entered into strategic OEM (original equipment manufacturers) partnerships with Nokia and Lava, and is in advanced discussions with several other major smartphone manufacturers, which will further amplify our reach.”

He added that Indus Appstore is targetting over 150 million users by the end of this year and plans to match competitors’ scale through strong partnerships with developers.

Indus Appstore

In the midst of increasing conflicts between Google and app developers regarding billing policies and commissions, PhonePe introduced its own Android mobile app store earlier this year. It on-boarded apps such as Blinkit, Zepto, MakeMyTrip, Paytm, and several prominent gaming companies including Dream11, Nazara Technologies, A23, MPL, Junglee Rummy, Taj Rummy, Rummy Passion, Rummy Culture, Rummy Time, and CardBaazi.

Indus has exceeded 2 million downloads to date, with significant traction coming from Tier-II cities, which comprise 45 per cent of its user base.

The report quoted Dongre as saying that Indus Appstore has over 250,000 apps on the platform.

Indus is waiving listing fees and platform fees for the first year, as well as eliminating charges for in-app transactions. Developers have the option to integrate any payment gateway, “compared to paying up to 30 per cent commission charges by global app stores”, Dongre said, as quoted by the report.

The Appstore supports 12 Indian languages and includes features such as voice and regional search capabilities.

The platform would leverage PhonePe group’s experience in creating straightforward and sustainable payment business models for the developer community, Dongre said.

The Appstore had crossed 100,000 downloads in just three days of launch.

“This remarkable achievement is a reflection of our team's unwavering commitment and hard work. We will continue innovating and improving our app store experience to ensure that we remain at the forefront of delivering a superior product experience for both developers and consumers. This is just the beginning, and we are excited about the future of app discovery in India,” Dongre had said.