In a bold move to challenge Google’s monopoly in India’s largest user market, PhonePe’s Indus Appstore has launched an app store for Android devices. This new marketplace boasts an impressive selection of apps, including top brands like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.
“We will offer an alternative with different set of features and capabilities. Some will like us, some will like others. We are just asking for a chance to compete on merit.”
In its efforts to compete with the Google Play Store, PhonePe has equipped the Indus Appstore with unique personalized features and developer-friendly terms. The store supports 12 regional languages, in addition to English, and offers round the clock support services.
PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam announced that the app store currently hosts over 200,000 apps across 45 categories, including popular names like Flipkart, Spotify, and Paytm. Interestingly, Indus Appstore allows third-party payments and does not charge any listing fees.
Even if developers choose to use external payment services or gateways, PhonePe will still not levy any fee. “We are working with many third-party aggregators to onboard the apps, and several big brands have already signed up with Indus Appstore,” Nigam stated at a press conference.
The store features several localized features, such as app discovery through short videos and the option to sign in using a mobile number rather than an email address. It also offers “smart updates” that push updates to users’ phones during times of higher data availability.
As the world’s leading market for app downloads, India currently has a user base of 750-800 million smartphone users. Nigam believes that Indus Appstore is necessary because “as a nation, we want to have a point of view on what we can and cannot do.” He also emphasizes that the control over what the nation consumes should not be restricted to just one or two companies.
“Indus Appstore challenges the status quo, ushering in an era of more healthy competition in the mobile app marketplace, which in turn should help create a more democratic and vibrant Indian digital ecosystem.”
Nigam assures that Indus Appstore will provide greater transparency, such as explaining to developers the reasons for their app being pulled from the store. In a statement, he says, “Indus Appstore embodies our commitment to building a truly inclusive digital ecosystem where every Indian user feels at home.”
Ivan Mehta also contributed to this report.
