PhonePe, a Walmart-backed fintech company that dominates mobile payments in India, is launching an Android app store.
According to a TechCrunch-reviewed internal corporate document, the app store offers hyper-localized services depending on client context to help developers get “high-quality” users through multilingual solutions.
PhonePe acquired IndusOS, a smartphone vendor-partnered app store provider, some weeks before entering the market.
According to a source, PhonePe, the most valued Indian fintech company that competes with Google’s Google Pay app in India, aims to deepen its involvement with smartphone suppliers, including Xiaomi.
According to the whitepaper, the app store would offer a “premiere experience for millions of users with high-quality advertisements and custom targeting,” 12 languages, and 24×7 live chat.
PhonePe announced its India app store debut.
A PhonePe spokesperson told TechCrunch that Google controls 97% of the Indian app store market and that PhonePe, which has over 450 million registered users, can build an alternative app store that is “more localized not just from a language perspective but also from a discovery and consumer interest perspective.”
The business stated the timing is “favorable for us” due to a recent Competition Commission of India judgment that allows other developers to construct and launch their app stores on Google Play. In addition, Google received redress from a tribunal.
PhonePe claimed “everyone is very receptive, especially since CCI has clarified that Google cannot engage in anti-competitive practices” in its many meetings with Indian phone makers.
PhonePe’s Indian App marketplace excites all OEMs. We aim to debut on all Android OEMs within a few months. We have concluded negotiations with one of the top OEMs and are working on getting the others onboard quickly over the next couple of months.”
PhonePe launched the app store after entering e-commerce. The startup left Flipkart last year.