PhonePe has signed a multi-year deal with Xiaomi India to bolster app accessibility and improve user experience. Following this, Indus Appstore will now be integrated into all new Xiaomi smartphones in India, displacing GetApps on already existing devices.
The integration is meant to make the discovery of apps easier as well as improve availability for Indian consumers. Indus Appstore's Chief Business Officer, Priya M Narasimhan, noted the potential of the partnership: "By leveraging Xiaomi India's reach and our localised app discovery platform, we're providing opportunities for developers and offering a seamless, culturally-relevant experience to users."
The PhonePe Indus Appstore, launched in February 2024, aims to break Google's Play Store monopoly by banking on local developers and more personalised services. The platform promotes app discovery in 12 Indian languages and runs features like video previews and voice search, essentially supporting India in all of its multilingual glory.
For developers, the Indus Appstore offers a number of incentives such as no platform charges or commissions on in-app payments and the ability to use any third-party payment gateway. There are also no app listing charges for the first year, promoting wider participation from app developers.
Xiaomi India Chief Operating Officer Sudhin Mathur highlighted the need for a local app marketplace, saying, "With India's digital economy expanding, never before has the need for a locally driven app marketplace been more imperative." He was confident that making Indus Appstore a part of the ecosystem would provide a rich and seamless app discovery experience to users as well as enable Indian developers to reach more audiences.
This strategic alliance not only enriches the app ecosystem for Xiaomi users but also fortifies PhonePe's presence in the Indian digital economy, offering a credible alternative to current app distribution platforms.