![Dissecting China's Super App: WeChat](/summary-img/33493-JNE96LZS.jpg?h=M&b=0)
Dissecting China's Super App: WeChat
What Kind of Product Will Be Able to Dethrone WeChat?
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Tencent’s WeChat, also known as the “super app” or “app for everything,” provides various services and functions, including instant messaging, social network news feeds, matchmaking, business services, e-commerce, life services and financial services. Writer Zhang Hongpan from the online media and learning platform I’m a Product Manager discusses the success and the challenges of WeChat and tries to envision a product that could make WeChat obsolete. Since he wrote the article in 2016, Tencent has tackled some of the problems he mentions. An increased focus on incorporating games has given users more options to spend their time in the app. Limiting advertising in the Moments feed helped WeChat keep Moments clean. And QQ – Tencent’s first instant messaging product that had become outdated – made a surprise comeback after Tencent redesigned and revamped the app. Now, the younger generation embraces QQ as the “new product to replace WeChat.” Thus fortified, Tencent seems to be holding its ground after all. Challenging Tencent’s position in China’s social networking industry may be even harder than Zhang predicted. getAbstract recommends this article to software developers, product managers and anyone curious about the future of social media and social networking in China.
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About the Author
Zhang Hongpan is a product manager with entrepreneur experience. He writes for I’m a Product Manager, an online media and learning platform and forum for product management and business operation in the tech industry.
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