Time and again various tech companies have tried to challenge the dominance of Google Play. Whether they have succeeded or not is a different story. However, the latest name to join that list is the Indian fintech giant PhonePe.
TechCrunch reports the Walmart-backed company is working on its own app store for Android devices. As per the internal document seen by the publication, the upcoming PhonePe app store will offer hyper-localized services and help developers with high-quality user acquisition.
PhonePe's Android app store will be available in 12 languages and will offer 24x7 live chat support, according to the document. The company is also in talks with various device makers in India regarding its Google Play alternative.
"We expect to be live on all Android OEMs within the first few months of launch. We have already closed terms with one of the largest OEMs and are trying to get the others rapidly onboard over the next couple of months,” a PhonePe spokesperson told the publication.
PhonePe was founded in 2015 and the UPI-based payment app is now a direct competitor to Google Pay in India with over 450 million registered users. The company already offers a platter of smartphone apps inside its payment app which can be used without downloading them separately.
Speaking of alternatives, there are several app stores for Android already on the market, including Samsung's Galaxy Store, Amazon App Store, and F-Droid. PhonePe's app store efforts have surfaced just a few months after India's antitrust watchdog imposed a fine on Google over anti-competitive practices on Android.
Source: TechCrunch
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