India remains Apple’s largest market opportunity after China. Growing the business in India, however, has always required a bit of compromise with the local government. In 2019, it was a small investment of $1 billion that helped unlock iPhone exports from India. More recently, India has pressured Apple to put its government-backed app store on the iPhone.
That’s according to a new report from Bloomberg, which says India asked both Apple and Google to offer the Gov.in app store on iOS and Android. India already lists its state-backed apps on Apple’s App Store on iPhone, but it reportedly wants its app marketplace to be more centrally available.
The country’s technology ministry called in executives from Apple, Google and other smartphone makers last month to request that they provide Indians direct access to the government’s suite of apps, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials asked the tech companies to make the state-backed GOV.in app store available in their marketplaces, including in the Apple and Android ones, said the people, asking not to be named because the talks aren’t yet public.
Apple doesn’t allow app stores within its App Store, and third-party marketplaces are only available where legally required. For that reason, the request could require legal action on behalf of India for Apple to comply with the request.
In Russia, Apple went so far as to present iPhone users with a government-mandated list of state-backed apps during setup. That’s reportedly a possibility in India too, Bloomberg reports:
The ministry’s goal is to expand distribution of its public-welfare services through technology. They would also like the state-backed app suite installed on mobile devices before sale and available for download from third parties without warnings like “untrusted source,” they said.
Considering the opportunities Apple sees in India — from accessing a massive market to diversifying manufacturing outside of China — this might be a battle Apple is willing to lose. Promoting local government apps certainly isn’t on the same level of requiring a backdoor into iOS, for example. Thoughts?
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