Galaxy Store vs Xiaomi GetApps vs Huawei AppGallery: a comparison

If you’ve decided OEM app stores belong in your distribution mix, the next question isn’t whether — it’s which one first. Samsung Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps, and Huawei AppGallery are the three OEM channels with the reach to matter, and they are not interchangeable. They differ in where their users actually are, how hard they are to onboard, and what kind of placement you can realistically get. Picking the wrong one first means spending integration effort on a store whose audience doesn’t overlap with your title’s market. (If you’re still working out whether OEM channels belong in your distribution stack at all, we made that case in our analysis of why paid UA has run out of road.)

This is a decision guide, not a manifesto. We made the case for why indies should take OEM channels seriously in OEM partnerships are a quietly great channel for indies; here we compare the three head to head so you can sequence them. A note up front on numbers: published revenue-share terms for OEM stores move and are often negotiated per-partner, so we’ll be deliberately careful — treating shares as generally comparable to or more favourable than the standard 30%, and pointing you to a direct conversation rather than quoting a precise percentage we can’t stand behind for your specific case.

How to read an OEM store: four axes that decide fit

Before the side-by-side, the four things that actually determine whether a given OEM store is worth your integration effort:

1. Regional reach — where are this store’s users, and does that overlap your title’s strongest markets?
2. Revenue share — what’s the take-home, and is it negotiable for a title that brings audience or quality?
3. Onboarding friction — how much engineering and account setup stands between you and a live listing, especially around services like push and payments?
4. Placement types — beyond a listing, can you get featuring, editorial promotion, or a pre-install deal that actually drives volume?

A store can win on reach and lose on friction. The right first pick is the one whose reach matches your market while its friction stays within what your team can absorb.

Samsung Galaxy Store: the global default

Regional reach. Galaxy Store ships on every Samsung Galaxy device worldwide, which makes it the broadest OEM footprint by sheer device count — strong in Europe, North America, Korea, and across emerging markets simultaneously. If your title is global and Android-first, this is the OEM store whose audience most resembles your existing Play audience.

Revenue share. Samsung’s terms are generally in line with or more favourable than the standard split, and as a company courting developers to differentiate the store, it has room to negotiate for titles that bring quality or audience. Treat the headline as a starting point, not a fixed cost.

Onboarding friction. This is Galaxy Store’s quiet advantage: it runs on standard Google Mobile Services (GMS) devices. Your existing Android build, with its existing Google service dependencies, largely just works. The porting tax is low — often the lowest of the three — which is why it’s the usual first OEM store for a studio testing the channel.

Placement types. Galaxy Store offers featuring and editorial slots, and Samsung’s scale opens the door to deeper promotional and pre-install arrangements for the right partners. Because the device base is global, a featuring win here is a global featuring win.

Best first pick if: you’re a global Android title that wants OEM reach with minimal porting work and an audience profile close to your Play baseline.

Xiaomi GetApps: the volume play in China, India, and beyond

Regional reach. GetApps rides Xiaomi’s enormous device base, which is heavily concentrated in China and India and strong across other emerging markets, with a growing global presence. For a title aimed at South and Southeast Asia or China, GetApps reaches an audience Galaxy Store and Western channels simply don’t, on huge device volumes.

Revenue share. Comparable to the standard split as a starting point, with the usual OEM willingness to negotiate for titles that fit the store’s priorities and regions. As ever, the published number is the opening position.

Onboarding friction. Moderate. GetApps operates within Xiaomi’s ecosystem, and depending on the market — particularly mainland China — you may need to adapt services (push, payments, accounts) away from Google dependencies, because GMS availability varies. The China market specifically carries its own compliance and localisation requirements that add real work.

Placement types. Xiaomi’s scale supports featuring, store promotion, and pre-install opportunities, and the upside in its core regions is large precisely because Western competitors under-invest there. Volume is the story.

Best first pick if: your title’s strongest markets are China, India, or other emerging Android-heavy regions, and you’re prepared to do some service-adaptation work to unlock that volume.

Huawei AppGallery: the channel into a GMS-free world

Regional reach. AppGallery is strongest in China and reaches Huawei’s global device base — but its defining characteristic is that Huawei devices ship without Google Mobile Services. That’s the whole strategic point: AppGallery is the primary app channel for a large device population that cannot use Google Play at all. There’s no overlap to cannibalise; it’s pure incremental reach.

Revenue share. Generally comparable to or more favourable than the standard cut, and Huawei has been notably aggressive in courting developers to fill its catalog — which can mean meaningful support and negotiable terms for titles willing to make the integration.

Onboarding friction. The highest of the three, and you should plan for it. Because there’s no GMS, any Google dependency in your build — push via FCM, Google sign-in, Play Billing, Maps, ads SDKs tied to Google services — needs replacing with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) equivalents. That’s genuine engineering, not a checkbox. The trade is that this work is also what unlocks an audience no other channel can serve.

Placement types. AppGallery offers featuring and editorial promotion, and Huawei’s developer-acquisition push has historically made meaningful promotional support available to titles that commit to the platform. For a title with no other route to GMS-free Huawei users, even modest placement is incremental.

Best first pick if: you have real audience in China or among Huawei users, and the incremental, zero-overlap reach justifies the HMS porting work. It’s rarely the first OEM store a studio does — but for the right market, it reaches players literally no one else can.

The side-by-side, in one view

• Broadest, lowest-friction, global: Samsung Galaxy Store. Runs on GMS, closest to your Play build, global device base. The natural first step into OEM distribution.
• Highest volume in China/India/emerging: Xiaomi GetApps. Massive device base in exactly the regions Western channels neglect; moderate service-adaptation work, especially for China.
• Unique, zero-overlap reach, highest friction: Huawei AppGallery. The only route to a large GMS-free audience; requires HMS porting, rewards titles with genuine Huawei-market audience.

The sequencing logic that falls out of this: most global studios start with Galaxy Store (lowest friction, broad reach), add GetApps when their emerging-market or China/India audience justifies the service work, and take on AppGallery when the incremental GMS-free reach is worth the HMS port. Match the store to where your players actually are — an OEM store with the wrong regional profile is integration effort spent on an audience you don’t have.

The bottom line

The three big OEM stores aren’t competitors for the same slot in your distribution stack — they’re three different reach propositions. Galaxy Store is the broad, low-friction global default. GetApps is the volume engine for China, India, and emerging Android markets. AppGallery is the only channel into a large audience Google Play can’t touch at all. Revenue shares across all three are generally comparable to or better than the 30% standard and frequently negotiable, but the real decision driver is reach-versus-friction fit, not a headline percentage.

Working out which OEM store to integrate first — and what revenue-share and placement terms you can actually negotiate for your specific titles and markets — is exactly the channel work our Founding Developer Program and distribution practice are built to handle, including the partner conversations where the real numbers get set. The OEM channel is some of the lowest-CPI reach in mobile. The only mistake is integrating the wrong store first.

FAQ

Which OEM app store should a publisher integrate first?

For most global Android titles, Samsung Galaxy Store is the natural first step: it runs on standard Google Mobile Services so your existing build largely works, and its device base is global and broad. Add Xiaomi GetApps when your China, India, or emerging-market audience justifies some service-adaptation work, and take on Huawei AppGallery when the incremental, GMS-free reach is worth the HMS porting effort. The right first pick is the store whose regional reach matches your title’s strongest markets while its onboarding friction stays within what your team can absorb.

What revenue share do OEM app stores take?

Published terms vary by store, move over time, and are often negotiated per partner, so a single precise figure can be misleading. In general, OEM store revenue shares are comparable to or more favourable than the standard 30% cut, and because these stores are actively courting developers, terms are frequently negotiable for titles that bring quality or audience. The reliable approach is to treat any headline number as an opening position and negotiate for your specific titles and markets.

Why is Huawei AppGallery harder to integrate than Galaxy Store?

Huawei devices ship without Google Mobile Services (GMS), so any Google dependency in your build — push notifications via FCM, Google sign-in, Play Billing, Maps, or ad SDKs tied to Google services — must be replaced with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) equivalents. That is real engineering work rather than a configuration change. Samsung Galaxy Store, by contrast, runs on standard GMS devices, so an existing Android build largely works as-is, which is why it carries the lowest onboarding friction of the three.

Which OEM store is best for reaching China and India?

Xiaomi GetApps has the strongest reach in China and India, riding Xiaomi’s very large device base in those markets, with strength across other emerging Android regions too. Huawei AppGallery is also strong in China and uniquely reaches Huawei’s GMS-free device population. Samsung Galaxy Store is more of a global broad-reach play than a China/India specialist, so for those two markets specifically, GetApps and AppGallery are usually the higher-volume choices.

Do OEM app stores offer featuring and pre-install placements?

Yes. All three — Samsung Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps, and Huawei AppGallery — offer featuring and editorial promotion, and their scale opens the door to deeper promotional and pre-install arrangements for the right partners. Pre-installs and prominent featuring are negotiated channel relationships rather than self-serve options, which is why the specific terms are best settled in a direct partner conversation aligned to your title and target regions.