PhonePe, one of the leading digital payments and financial services in India, is looking to launch its own app store to rival the Google Play Store. The latest move aims to provide Android users with an indigenous substitute to Google’s option. The company already competes directly with Google Pay in the payments segment in India. Keep reading to know more.
PhonePe’s App Store is in the Making!
As per a report by TechCrunch, PhonePe’s pitch is that it wants to create a hyperlocalized offering to the people of India through multilingual solutions. Google Play Store currently dominates the market due to its arguably strict security policies and the vast selection of apps available on the platform. PhonePe wants developers to develop “high-quality” services within its platform to cater to the Indian Android market.
This comes after the recent acquirement of the Indian-origin IndusOS, which offers services to end users via strategic partnerships with smartphone makers.
According to an internal company document, PhonePe’s major USP will be to offer a “premium user experience via custom targeting and high-quality advertisement.” Users can expect support for 12 languages and a 24×7 live chat facility.
It is said that the app store will be available to all Android OEMs in the coming months. The interesting part is that it will be a dedicated app for apps available on the Google Play Store. For those who don’t know, a recent order by the Competition Commission of India allows developers to list their app stores on the Play Store, so this, could end up becoming a reality for PhonePe.
A PhonePe spokesperson believes that there’s an opportunity for it to rival Google, which presently has a 97% in the market. The company feels that a much more localized and personalized app store offering will be warmly accepted by the people.
At this moment, we cannot comment on how feasible the approach is. However, PhonePe’s plan sounds promising and it is a matter of time before we see how it pans out. So, how do you feel about this? Comment your thoughts on this below and stay tuned for further updates.
