Indian fintech company PhonePe has recently launched the Indus Appstore, an Android app store that features apps from major brands such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta. This move is seen as a direct challenge to Google’s dominance in the Indian market, which is its largest user base.
Key Takeaway
PhonePe’s launch of the Indus Appstore presents a formidable challenge to Google’s dominance in the Indian app market, offering a diverse range of apps, developer-friendly terms, and localized features.
Unique Features and Developer-Friendly Terms
To compete with the Google Play Store, PhonePe has equipped the Indus Appstore with a variety of unique and personalized features, along with developer-friendly terms. The app store supports 12 regional languages in addition to English and offers round-the-clock support services. It also does not impose any listing fees for the first year, and even when developers use third-party payment services and gateways, PhonePe will not levy any fees.
App Diversity and Third-Party Payments
The Indus Appstore currently boasts over 200,000 apps across 45 categories, including popular ones like Flipkart, Spotify, and Paytm. It supports third-party payments and has successfully onboarded many big brands. Notably, Google apps are currently absent from the store, which has been actively courting developers since September last year.
Localized Features and Consumer Benefits
Indus Appstore offers several localized features, including app discovery through short videos and the option to sign in using a mobile number instead of an email address. It also provides “smart updates,” delivering updates to users’ phones during periods of greater data availability.
