Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo Partner on New Platform for Overseas Developers

Chinese smartphone makers Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo have join forces to create a platform that allows overseas developers to upload their applications to the four App stores simultaneously.

The platform, allegedly named “Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA),” aims to make it easier for developers of games, music, movies and other applications to market their products overseas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Analysts said the platform is designed to challenge the dominance of Google Play, the leading app store for the Android operating system. However, a Xiaomi representative denied the notion of creating competition with Google, Android Authority said.

The GDSA is expected to be launched in March this year in nine regions including India, Indonesia and Russia. It remains unclear whether the release will be delayed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Nicole Peng from technology market analyst firm Canalys said, members can take advantage of each other’s strengths in different regions through the alliance, for example, Xiaomi’s strong user base in India, vivo and OPPO’s strong performance in Southeast Asia.

Nicole also pointed out managing the alliance would be challenging since it’s hard to say which company has the more influence. “We haven’t seen this alliance model work well in the past.”

Based on data from IDC, the four companies together accounted for 40.1% of global cell phone shipments in Q4 2019.