Fresh from collaborating on a fast wireless file-sharing solution for the hundreds of millions of device users they share among themselves under the Peer-to-Peer Transmission Alliance, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have closed ranks with another Chinese device maker, Huawei, to take on Google.
This time around, their area of focus is on the search giant’s hold of the smartphone market through its app and content distribution platform, Google Play.
Just like the new wireless file-sharing solution they have come up with, which starts rolling out to devices from the trio this month and for which Google, whose Android platform they all rely on, has also been hard at work on a similar solution, joined by Huawei, they are also keen to offer their own alternative app and content store.
“The four companies are ironing out kinks in what is known as the Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA). The platform aims to make it easier for developers of games, music, movies and other apps to market their apps in overseas markets, according to people with knowledge of the matter,” reports Reuters.
According to Reuters, the platform is supposed to launch next month (in March) in India, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia and 5 other unnamed countries.
The banding together of the four device makers, who had a combined 40% share of the global smartphone market could present the toughest challenge for Google’s own content and app platform, Google Play.
Google Play and Google Play services come pre-installed and easily accessible by default on most devices offered by the four companies.
However, due to Google’s absence in the Chinese market, their home ground, Google Play and Google Play services are inaccessible in China and the four have been running their own content and app stores for a while, backed by popular local alternatives.
With the escalation of the US-China trade war last year that saw Huawei lose its Android certification for some new releases like the Huawei Mate 30 series, it is increasingly becoming clear to any companies that are heavily reliant on Google’s platform that a similar fate could befall them any time. As a result, they have been shopping for alternatives that will be a hit with the hundreds of millions of customers they have been able to rake in far from home.
The Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA) may be the start of many such partnerships meant to water down Google’s influence that we are going to see over the next few years.
