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The ban on 59 Chinese apps has given an opportunity to Indian app-makers to grab the space left by the likes of TikTok and ShareIT.
For example, Chingari, a rival of TikTok is already seeing uptake in downloads.
Sumit Ghosh, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Chingari, said, “This is a very good step taken by the Goverment of India and the IT Ministry.For a very long time TikTok has been spying on users and sending back the data to China. We are happy that this step has been finally taken. We would like to welcome all the users of TikTok to come and try our Chingari, which is a 100 per cent India grown app, and made for the passionate Indians.”
Similarly, ShareChat, a homegrown video-sharing app, is also gearing up to fill the void left by the Chinese players. Berges Malu, Director, Public Policy, ShareChat, said, “This is a welcome move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cyber security and national security risks. We expect the government to continue their support for the Indian start-up ecosystem.”
India has been a key market for some of these Chinese apps. TikTok, for instance, had millions of Indian users.
Blaise Fernandes, Director at Gateway House, said, “There are essentially four types of Chinese apps functioning in India — economic activity apps, service-oriented apps, vanity apps and strategic apps. The Digital India story is globally tracked. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are part of the digital ‘Silk Route’ of China. The ban of the 59 Chinese apps in India will negatively impact the valuations of these apps and their respective promoters. Case in point — the upcoming IPO of TikTok; 30 per cent of its user base comes from India. This ban will impact TikTok valuations negatively.”
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