The Walmart-backed company PhonePe, which dominates the mobile payments business in the second-largest Asian economy, is getting ready to create a dedicated app store for Android users in India.
According to an internal corporate document acquired by TechCrunch, the app store, created to provide hyper-localized services based on client context, seeks to help developers with “high-quality” user acquisition through multilingual solutions.
After purchasing IndusOS, an app store developer that serves clients through partnerships with smartphone OEMs, PhonePe will soon enter the app store industry. This is still a few weeks away.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, PhonePe, the most valuable Indian fintech startup that fiercely competes with Google Pay in India, aims to deepen its relationships with smartphone manufacturers, including companies like Xiaomi.
According to the document, the app store will provide a “premier experience for millions of users with high-quality advertisements and custom targeting,” as well as support for 12 different languages and round-the-clock live chat.
According to a senior developer who has interacted with PhonePe’s executive team, developing an app store has long been one of the startup’s main priorities. The developer, who, like the other source, asked to remain anonymous in order to talk candidly, claimed that PhonePe, which has long provided a little app store within its flagship app, has held the belief that users are hesitant to download several apps on their phones.
PhonePe, which has received $750 million in funding this year from investors including General Atlantic, Walmart, and Tiger Global, has announced that it is preparing to open an app store in India.
A PhonePe representative told TechCrunch that Google controls 97% of the Indian app store market and that there is a chance for a company like PhonePe, which has more than 450 million users registered there, to create a competing app store that is “more localized not just from a language perspective but also from a discovery and consumer interest perspective.”
The timing is also “favorable for us,” the company claimed, citing a recent order from the Competition Commission of India, an Indian antitrust watchdog, that clarifies the path for other developers to create and launch own app shops on Google Play. Since then, Google has received some relief from a tribunal court.
PhonePe acknowledged that it has been in contact with Indian phone manufacturers on a number of occasions, adding that “everyone is very receptive, especially since CCI has clarified that Google cannot engage in anti-competitive practices.”
“PhonePe is developing a localized App store for the Indian market, and all the OEMs are thrilled about it. Within the first few months of introduction, we anticipate being live on all Android OEMs. With one of the biggest OEMs, we have already reached an agreement, and we’re working hard to quickly bring the others on board over the coming few months.
