Indian startups mull rebel alliance to take on Google Play Store

Google Play Store 2020 best Android apps

  • Indian startups are considering forming an alliance against Google.
  • According to reports, executives agreed that a 30% commission would not be feasible in India.
  • The Play Store gambling guidelines appear to have sped up the conversation.

Android’s dominance in the Indian smartphone space has been instrumental in the growth of several internet startups, but it appears that the same startups are now teaming up against Google’s stranglehold on the app store and payments.

Techcrunch reports that some of the top startups in India are working to form an alliance that will bypass Google’s Play Store guidelines and potentially launch an alternative app store. The move gained momentum after a popular payment solution app, Paytm, was removed from the Play Store and cited several violations of Google’s guidelines regarding gambling.

In addition to Paytm, Google has also reached giants like Swiggy and Zomato. With the Indian Premier League, India’s largest sporting event, several startups want to benefit from betting on fantasy leagues.

Google recently announced plans to better enforce its in-app purchase policies, which could result in more apps paying a 30% commission for in-app purchases.

Connected: Google will begin cracking down on in-app purchases for Android in 2021

According to TechcrunchBig Indian startup executives took part in a call earlier this week that unanimously agreed that a 30% commission is impracticable. Apps and services in India tend to have lower regional prices to accommodate the local economy. A commission on this would not be sustainable for the local actors without passing the costs on to the consumers.

Earlier this year, Google announced a partnership with Jio, India’s largest telecommunications provider, to market and develop low-cost Android smartphones. The potential price for the smartphone is expected to be around $ 50. More than 200 million units are expected to be delivered over the next three years. Jio’s size and distribution of its own curated app store could also have a decisive impact on Allianz’s plans.

Regardless of this, it remains to be seen how the alliance develops. However, there is no doubt that it will be a daunting task for any third party app store to break into India.

Source link

Related Posts