Are platforms like WeChat the future of Internet?
Over the last couple of months, I have came across several articles talking about how WeChat is a blanket platform which allows consumers to not only message one another but also play games, pay bills, find local hangouts, book doctor appointments, file police reports, hail taxis, hold video conferences, and access bank services (TheVerge).
Mobile has redefined how to experience internet, while in the western world (North America, EU) people transitioned their businesses from desktop to mobile. In Asia, people started with mobile devices - given the accessibility, price point and proliferation of mobile data. This has led to apps becoming a gateway for people to the internet.
Chat apps like WhatsApp and WeChat are evolution from SMS which captured the mobile first market by reaching out to as many consumers as possible. The service being free and providing rich feature set led to more people using them. The network effect made them the giant they are now. WeChat went one step further by tapping into ThePlatform effect and made its app a stage for people to not just communicate but carry out day to day activities.
Shown below, the number of ACTIVE users on WeChat exceed 1.1bn as of Q2 2019.
This is a natural evolution - from people visiting physical stores/places to do various activities (shopping, paying bills) → to online/virtual analogues for the same and now finding all of them on a single platform. Becoming a focal point for multiple user activities has led the app to become a new default for many users in the China market.
The natural course of action is to let people search for things given the vast platform. Baidu is still the market leader in search in CN market but recent launch of WeChat search/discover on its app have raised concerns on WeChat formally making an entry into the search space. We already see some market share shifting from search engine relating to specific industries where companies are big enough to cover majority of the target market e.g. Amazon taking up share from Google in consumer product space. But the key there is specific industry, search engines have always been the doormat for internet users but mobile is changing that. WeChat development of ecosystem of utilities around its messaging service allowed it to build a system which in a way has become the gateway for many mobile users.
So it's possible that the future of search is in hands of WeChat rather than Baidu, given people are not only mobile first but there is growing trend of people switching their primary device from desktop to mobile.
I see whats happening in China as a glimpse into mobile-first future for many countries in Asia and Africa. Market in CN has a 1:1 match with companies like Google, Amazon with Baidu and Alibaba. But I don’t think we have a tech giant providing a platform like WeChat on mobile. WhatsApp came close, but even after 2014 acquisition by Facebook its focus is still on building a messaging service. On the other side we have Google with its massive market share on mobile via the Android platform but isn’t able to dominate the chat services on mobile.
WhatsApp is still by far the dominant messaging platform outside CN market. And it might be in best position to leverage its position to become a platform like WeChat. But in recent years, Facebook like many other tech giants has been in hot water due to privacy issues. And it would not be straight forward to convince consumer to buy into big changes on its platform.
Overall, we already see that the browser is no longer the king 👑. I think mobile users will converge to usage of apps which are able to create platform like WeChat. I still see this space outside CN market waiting for disruption where incumbents like Facebook can leverage their existing position.
