Why is the development of Indian App Store vital for SMEs and Entrepreneurs?

Samrat Pradhan (Correspondent) | Monday, 05 October 2020, 15:35 IST

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Why is the development of Indian App Store vital for SMEs and Entrepreneurs

Reacting to the growing outcry against the dominance of US technology giants Google and Apple in the country’s digital services market, the central government is strictly considering the requests from technology entrepreneurs to launch an Indian digital application store. 

 

In addition, alongside popular offerings like Google Play, there is a need to also introduce policies requiring handset manufacturers to preload alternative app stores. Hence, India already has an app store for governance-centric apps, which can be scaled up to begin with. However, it is said that the Indian government is not averse to the idea of launching its own app store.

With applications such as e-governance app Umang, health app Aarogya Setu and storage app DigiLocker, the existing digital store for government apps, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). 

Therefore, to create an overarching Indian digital app ecosystem, a number of technology entrepreneurs are joining hands to petition the government seeking support. This surge in developing India’s own app store is clearly attributed to Google's announcement on enforcing 30 percent commission on in-app purchases.  

Breaking the DOminance of Global Technology Giants

Global experts are of the view that India is well placed to break the dominance of global technology giants in its digital app ecosystem. “The (digital) industry doesn’t need the government’s help in this, they (developers and entrepreneurs) can just crowdsource it and keep a minimal charge of 2% to run the platform. Nobody will then need to pay 30% to Apple and Google,” said Vivek Wadhwa, an American technology entrepreneur and academic.

“If it (local app store) is scaled up globally after being initially successful in India, developers around the world will be happy to be on an alternative platform where they don’t have to shell out a hefty 30%,” he added.

One of the Government officials said, “The issue emerges from the fact that Google’s Android operating system has a “98% market share” in the smartphone segment in India whereas it’s much lower in other countries including the US. The problem of monopoly is very acute.”

Hence today, startups and entrepreneurs are looking for Atma Nirbhar Route to develop India’s own app store. Startups are taking this matter to social media to speak against Google and Apple’s duopoly. 

“India needs a local app store long term else 30% tax will eat up most businesses, is anyone trying to build one?” stated Harshil Mathur, Chief Executive Officer of payments platform Razorpay. “We believe India should become self-sufficient and have its own Indian app ecosystem,” he added. 

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