"Google Play Store Rival" Four Chinese Smartphone Makers Led by Huawei Join Forces

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Huawei, which has been blacklisted by the United States, have joined forces to launch a 'United Application Store.' This is a countermeasure against Google's Play Store, which virtually dominates the market. This platform, which will be installed on all devices of the four Chinese companies, is expected to be launched as early as March in nine regions including India, Indonesia, and Russia.

According to major foreign media on the 6th (local time), four Chinese companies?Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo?are building a joint platform installed on their devices and accessible in overseas markets. Named the 'Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA),' this platform is an app store similar to Google's Play Store, offering games, music, movies, and other apps.

A source said, "The initial goal was to launch in March, but it is uncertain how the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) in China will affect this." The main target is overseas markets currently dominated by Google. GDSA is expected to be introduced first in nine regions where Chinese smartphone manufacturers are particularly strong, including India, Indonesia, and Russia.

Foreign media analyzed this move by Chinese manufacturers as "a challenge to Google's Play Store monopoly." Google, which is banned from operating in China, reportedly earned $8.8 billion worldwide through the Play Store in 2019.

These four companies plan to target overseas markets through the joint app store launch while also building bargaining power against Google by leveraging each company's strengths. According to IDC, the combined device shipments of these four companies in the fourth quarter of last year accounted for 40.1% of the total. Xiaomi dominates the Indian market, OPPO and Vivo lead in South Asia, and Huawei controls the European market focusing on mid-to-low-end models.

William Wong, a smartphone analyst at market research firm IDC, said, "As hardware sales decline for Chinese manufacturers, they are trying to increase their share in software and services," adding, "App stores, advertising, and games are areas that can generate new revenue."

In particular, Huawei, which was blacklisted by the U.S. for national security reasons, is known to have been the most active participant in this alliance. Due to measures by the Donald Trump administration, Huawei's Mate 30 series, released in September last year, did not include Google's Android system or Play Store. Currently, Huawei is also developing its own Harmony OS.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.