China's apps slipped down the ranks of popularity

Posted on 25th Jun 2020 by rohit kumar

China's applications, which were once very popular in the online segment among the Indian people, are suddenly sliding down the ranks of popularity. From Tiktok, Hero, UC Browser, and Share-It apps like China tech companies, the grip is suddenly getting loosened.

 

 

Opposition to products from China has reached a peak in the country following the heightened tension between India and China over the last few weeks. China's app companies are suffering from people's anger, from apps to mobile phones. At present, opposition to Chinese products has increased so much that those who once stood at the top position in terms of popularity among the people, are now rapidly slipping down.

 

 

According to data from mobile marketing company Censatower, TickTock was ranked third in the free app category in India on April 1, just a few days after the lockdown, but now it slipped to 11th on June 23. There is no doubt that after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in a skirmish with China in Galvan, people's anger against China's products has flared up.

 

 

TikTok cannot be considered a small app as more than 200 million people use it in India and India is the second-largest market after China in terms of download. Its popularity can also be gauged from the fact that Zee is bringing an indigenous version called 'Hippy' to counter it.

 

 

The biggest shock to China's app has been given by the relatively new but controversial app 'Friends'. The number of times 'Friends' has been downloaded so far, it has risen from 424th position on May 1 to the third position on June 22. However, due to its wiring links with Pakistan, the investigation on this has intensified. The App Store was temporarily not allowing the download of friends, but it has made a strong comeback.

 

 

Even the ranking of Alibaba-owned UC Browser has fallen from 39 to 79 in this period. UC Browser has 43 million monthly active users worldwide, of which more than 130 million are in India.

 

 

Share-It's ranking also fell from 15 to 49 during the period under review. Through this app, users can exchange files between devices. It is available in many languages. The ranking of social media platform Halo dropped from 9 to 29. This app has more than 50 million users. It is available in 15 languages ​​including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam. A few questions were sent via email to BiteDance, the owner of TickTalk, and Halo. But a Halo spokesman said they could not comment on it. There was no response from UC Browser and representatives from Tiktok.

 

 

In May, a developer brought an app called REMOVE China Apps to help Indian customers get rid of these Chinese apps. With the help of this app, Chinese apps could be removed easily. This app was downloaded by 50 lakh people from Google Play Store, after which the store removed that app.

 

However, the story looks different in the mobile sector as most Chinese companies are not backing down from their big offerings this year. For example, Reality plans to launch at least 15 new phones and IoT products in the next six months. It will introduce a new mobile X3 on Thursday. Last Thursday, the One Plus 8 Pro was introduced amidst the rising voices of a boycott of Chinese brands, which sold out on Amazon India in minutes.

 

 

Analysts say the opening of the lockdown has led to suppressed demand for mobile devices, but there are limited options for customers to avoid China's mobiles. According to data from Counterpoint Research from January to March, big Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme had a market share of 73 percent, up from 68 percent in the previous quarter.