Six months after the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe, alternative app marketplaces are struggling to capture significant consumer market share from dominant platform operators. Technical friction in installation flows remains a key barrier.
Developer Economics vs. Platform Friction
Although alternative stores offer fee structures below the standard 30 percent baseline, core technology fees and multi-step security prompts discourage casual downloads. Developers report that conversion rates on third-party stores lag traditional platform metrics by up to 60 percent.