Slightly Slightly, America
Has Lost Way to China
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia –The technological competition between the United States (US) and China is fierce. China continues to try to break through boundaries to present relevant innovations.
One of the things that China has won over the US is the ability to create the WeChat superapp developed by Tencent.
CNBC International reported a study showing that the average US citizen has 46 applications on their cellphones every month to carry out daily activities.
Chinese citizens do not need to face similar hassles, because superapps like WeChat can accommodate various functions through just one application. Starting from shopping, socializing with friends, ordering food, to online doctor consultations.
“We are all tired of dozens of applications on our cellphones. The attraction of superapps is that various functions from all applications can be accessed in one place without any obstacles,” said Arjun Kharpal, senior technology reporter at CNBC International, quoted Wednesday (1/22/2025).
Wechat is one of China’s most famous superapps. Founded in 2011, WeChat started out as a messaging app that now has 1.3 billion monthly active users.
The superapp has grown rapidly in Asia, but has yet to catch on in Western markets, including the US. There are a few reasons behind this.
“The regulatory climate in the US is certainly not conducive to superapps,” said Dan Prud’homme, assistant professor at Florida International University’s College of Business.
“There are still very strong protections around things like peer-to-peer lending, data privacy, antitrust, and so on that don’t allow apps in the US to thrive like WeChat,” he added.
However, the US seems to be catching up with China. At least, there is talk of moving towards superapp development.
Elon Musk once said he wanted to turn X into a superapp like WeChat. However, X is still just a microblogging app. X has announced plans to support crypto transactions in 2025, but there has been no recent update on that feature.
In addition, Uber was also reported in late 2024 to support hotel and ticket booking capabilities with the acquisition of Expedia. However, the continuation of the plan has not been announced until now.
SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA
