Amidst the trade tensions between the U.S. and China, Huawei lost access to the Google Play Store. The move is said to have affected Huawei’s sales in international markets like Europe. The company has reportedly teamed with Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo to come up with their respective app stores. The partnership will be called Global Developer Service Alliance.
According to Reuters, the companies are not working towards creating a single app store. Instead, each one will be offering its own app store. However, developers outside China can submit their apps to all the four app stores in a single go. In other words, despite different names, the app store will likely offer the same apps. Furthermore, like any other app store, this one too will feature groups like games, music movies, much more. The report speculates that the new alliance is a way to pressurize Google. It is worth noting that only Huawei was banned from using Google Play Store while the other manufacturers including Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi have not faced such issues. Perhaps the Chinese manufacturers are putting up a show of power and warning Google of the consequences. The Global Developer Service Alliance website mentions Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo as participants. The website also mentions available countries which include India, Russia, Indonesia. Interested developers can submit their apps to the GSDA.
Our Take
Google has taken flake for following monopolistic practices for more than once. The company is currently being probed for anti-competitive practices. In the recent past, Google has been fined to the tune of $1.7 Billion by E.U. for imposing unfair terms for companies that wanted to use Google’s search bar. It is to be seen how successful Chinese smartphone manufacturers will be when it comes to offering an alternative app store internationally.
