Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi join forces to challenge Play Store monopoly
Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi join forces to challenge Play Store monopoly
February 6, 2020 at 1:32 p.m. ET: A Xiaomi representative contacted Android Authority with a comment on the GDSA news. Apparently, Xiaomi’s goal with joining the group isn’t meant to create competition with Google — it’s simply meant to make developers’ lives easier when uploading to multiple app stores from other manufacturers.
The brands work together under the name Global Developers Service Alliance (GDSA). The manufacturers all work with their own app store, but with the new platform developers can simultaneously offer their apps to all those stores.
Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi join forces to challenge Play Store monopoly (Update)
GAME ON
Reuters reports that Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have teamed up to let foreign developers upload apps onto all of their app stores at the same time.
The initiative is reportedly dubbed the Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA) and seems to be an indirect Play Store rival in some ways. The GDSA apparently aims to make it easy for developers to market their apps in foreign markets. In fact, an early website has already gone live showing developers how to sign up for an account and confirming that it covers nine markets.
Nations specifically named on the website include India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. However, the documentation shows that paid app support varies by OEM and nation (with Spain missing).
The alliance represents three out of the top five global players today, according to Canalys and Counterpoint Research (Vivo is at number six). Nicole Peng, vice-president of mobility at Canalys, tells the newswire that the brands could leverage each company’s regional popularity. For example, developers publishing to Xiaomi’s app store in India would theoretically get published on other OEM app stores as well.
We’ve contacted Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei for more details regarding the story, but await Oppo’s response. Huawei and Xiaomi, however, refused to comment on the matter.
https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-oppo-vivo-xiaomi-google-play-store-rival-1080838/