Google Play turns 10: 2 million developers, 2.5 billion users spread over 190 countries and more – Times of India

Google Play has turned 10 today. On the occasion, Aditya Swamy, Director, Play Partnerships shared the blog post on the platform’s 10-year journey. “In 2012, we opened the (digital) doors of Google Play to the world. A decade later, we are humbled to see more than 2.5 billion people in over 190 countries use Google Play every month to discover apps, games, and digital content. And more than 2 million developers work with us to build their businesses and reach people across the globe,” wrote Swamy. Here are key highlights from the blog post.
Rise of India as app-first country
“India has transformed into an app-first country in the past decade, consistently emerging as one of the top downloaders for apps and games across the world. We are seeing apps empower communities daily, drive inclusion, create jobs, enable global opportunities, and contribute to economic growth. India has crossed a major milestone of 100 unicorns, and it’s phenomenal to see a significant portion of these as businesses powered by apps,” said Swamy.
Big thank you to Android developers
He thanked the Android developers and startups in the country who he says have played a key role. “None of this would have been possible without our enterprising and thriving ecosystem of developers and startups in the country whose creativity and ambition are positively impacting millions of lives by solving for India’s unique needs – and has helped create a vibrant ecosystem of amazing apps across categories.”
He said that in the past decade, Google has consistently invested in the Android and Google Play ecosystem to serve as much more than a distribution platform for startups and developers – aiming to support them at every stage of their growth with powerful tools and features, data and insights, programs tailored to their needs, and educational resources to build delightful and successful solutions on Play.
Enter the new-age apps
The past two years, said Swamy, have seen apps across categories such as education, payments, health, entertainment, and gaming witness stupendous growth. He names some of the popular ones as well as those that are offering something different: HealthifyMe, Pratilipi, Ludo King, PlaySimple Games, Krishify, Evolve and Stamurai.
“Local developers are also finding global audiences with Indian apps and games seeing a 150% increase in time spent by users outside India in 2021 compared to 2019 on Google Play,” says Swamy.
Looking ahead
Talking about the next decade Swamy said, “From leading in app adoptions to emerging as a large global developer hub, India will play a critical role in the evolution of the global app ecosystem in the coming decade.”
“As we complete a decade, we’re reaffirming our commitment to India’s thriving app and developer ecosystem. We are confident that local developers’ innovations – along with our continued commitment to helping build the local app ecosystem – will help India turn a new page in its journey to becoming a powerful digital economy… We remain committed to building a local and helpful Play for India. We will continue to bring the best of our global experience and innovation to India, while staying focussed on solving for local opportunities and challenges.”