In the wake of the growing tension with the Chinese forces on the India-China border in Ladakh, and a violent clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead, the Indian government banned 59 apps of Chinese origin, citing data security and national sovereignty concerns. These include popular apps such as TikTok, SHAREIt, UC Browser, CamScanner, Helo, Weibo, WeChat, and Club Factory.
The ban of the Chinese apps has given birth to the blossoming time to the Indian apps and make use of those apps to gain market share in India.
There were millions of downloads of the banned applications in India. Already Installed apps may continue to exist on mobile devices. But now that the latest versions of the apps have been removed from both Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, users will not be able to access updated versions soon. If even a slight notice goes out to internet service providers asking that data flow from these apps be halted, that could impact the functioning of existing installed apps.
The Alternatives of Helo App
Homegrown apps like ShareChat, Roposo, Chingari, and GoSocial have seen a significant increase in downloads and user signups on their platforms after the government's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps.
Roposo and ShareChat are one of the biggest beneficiaries
These apps are likelier to the Helo app, it is easy for the Indian users to know the exact functionalities of the applications.
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ShareChat
ShareChat is India's largest regional language social media platform said it has witnessed an "exponential growth" in the last two days. The platform claimed to have seen 5,00,000 downloads on an hourly basis and over 15 million downloads since the ban was announced on Monday evening.
"We are confident that this sets up the foundation of another success for ShareChat," ShareChat COO and Co-founder, Farid Ahsan, told PTI. The company said it has already seen more than 1,00,000 posts supporting the government to move towards banning Chinese apps.
ShareChat has around more than 150 million registered users and 60 million monthly active users across 15 Indian languages. It now has over 80,000 users.
Roposo
India’s recent ban on 59 Chinese apps, including the popular short video platform TikTok, has created new opportunities for homegrown apps like Roposo and ShareChat. The data provided by an analytics platform shows that ShareChat downloads increased by 257 %, whereas Roposo downloads grew 82 %.
Roposo was a popular short-video platform but its popularity shot up after the Indian government banned TikTok and Helo. Immediate after-effects of the ban were Roposo was downloaded by 4,900,000 smartphone users in India. And between June 29 and July 8, the downloads shot up to 8,900,000, an increase of 82 % compared to the 10 days before. Roposo now claims it has around 65 million users in India.
StartupTalky
Sharechat’s growth is comparatively slower than that of other Indian rivals, such as Roposo. The InMobi-owned video-sharing platform had said that it gained 10 million new users in as little as 12 hours after the ban.
Chingari
Chingari is an Indian video sharing app which has emerged as one of the top alternatives of the Helo app and has crossed over 1 million downloads on Play Store. This app allows users to view, create and share videos. This app also allows users to view news and play games.
Impact on Market Share in India
| Apps | June 19-28 | June 29 to July 8 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roposo | 49,00,000 | 89,00,000 | 89% |
| ShareChat | 14,00,000 | 50,00,000 | 257% |
| Mitron | 36,00,000 | 43,00,000 | 19% |
| Chingari | 35,00,000 | 54,00,000 | 54% |
Experts say that the ban, coupled with anti-China sentiments in the country, does create an opportunity for Indian brands, whether these new users will stick to these platforms remains to be seen. Sharechat says it has around 150 million registered users right now, of whom 60 million are monthly active users.
Naveen Mishra, senior research director at Gartner, said with the ban of Chinese apps, 200 million Indian consumers are evaluating alternates.
"This ban creates immediate opportunities for Indian developers to create a similar platform. There are a bunch of early-stage similar Indian products, which will be religiously tested by Indian consumers now. Accelerated product evolution based on local customer feedback is key to be successful in this new scenario," he said.
StartupTalky
Industry executives believe the government's decision to ban these Chinese apps presents an opportunity for homegrown companies to lure millions of young users and brands onto their platforms.
This would also provide developers of the Indian apps the unique opportunity to mirror the success that global tech giants have enjoyed in India over the past few years, they said.
Conclusion
Industry executives believe the government's move to ban these Chinese apps presents an opportunity for homegrown companies to gain millions of young users and brands onto their platforms. This would also provide developers of these apps the unique opportunity to mirror the success that global tech giants have enjoyed in India over the past few years.
Indian companies are now finally taking over the Chinese giants in the Indian market and are gaining popularity among the users.
Author: Vibhavari Madki
Source : https://startuptalky.com/helo-competitors-gaining-market-india/
Date : 2020-08-31T05:33:19.000Z