After the Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced that Google's mobile business model can be altered, it has created opportunities for competitors to create their own app stores. PhonePe, a major financial technology and payments company owned by Walmart, is set to launch its own app store for Android users in India, which it hopes will provide stiff competition to Google. 

The app store will reportedly be more localised than Google's offering, catering to the Indian market with apps that are targeted at local users and their interests.

PhonePe has received support from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and is in talks with multiple OEMs in India to have its app store pre-installed on their devices. PhonePe expects to go live on all Android OEMs within the first few months of launch, having already secured a deal with one of the largest OEMs. 

Google has traditionally prevented OEMs from supporting other app stores, but recent rulings from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and CCI have made it clear that independent app stores can operate in India.

Currently, the Google Play Store dominates the Indian app store market with over 97 per cent of the market share. PhonePe's app store aims to provide an alternative to users, providing them with a gateway to discover and download different kinds of apps that are more relevant to them. PhonePe's app store will be more localised not only in terms of language but also in terms of discovery and consumer interest perspective.

PhonePe has not provided an exact timeline for the launch of its app store. The company plans to conduct internal and beta testing, much like it does with its other apps, before launching. The timing of PhonePe's app store launch is favourable to the company given recent regulatory developments, and the company is optimistic about the support it has received from OEMs.