According to a new claim, Microsoft officials reportedly explored launching a “super app” that will allow it to offer a variety of services and goods in a single spot.
Microsoft still has a very limited penetration in the mobile industry, but it aims to quench this desire by establishing an all-in-one app that will ideally be a one-stop site where customers can access numerous services from Microsoft. This notion was inspired by WeChat’s design, which functions just like that: an app that mixes messaging, shopping, games, news, and more, according The Information, which quoted experts on the subject.
In contrast to Google and Apple, which jointly control the majority of the mobile industry, Microsoft does not have its own mobile app store for smartphone customers, the research emphasises. However, the objective is beyond delivering its own products to mobile consumers: Microsoft also wants to extend its consumer services.
It is important to keep in mind, though, that the Microsoft Start app already offers many of the same functions. News, texting, gaming, discount shopping, and even Microsoft Rewards are available on the mobile app. However, if Microsoft is seriously thinking about creating a super app, it must go beyond what the Microsoft Start app presently offers. It must specifically exceed it. Making an app that is just somewhat related to the service it is already providing will only provide a redundant, perplexing, and needless app that may lead to a dead end.
Furthermore, WeChat, the app that the sources claim served as inspiration for Microsoft’s strategy, has more than 100 million downloads, while Microsoft Start has only received 5 million downloads on Google Play Store. It might not be a good idea for Microsoft to promote this statistic if it served as inspiration for Microsoft executives. WeChat’s enormous popularity is solely due to the Chinese government’s influence, which resulted in the region’s key competitors of the programme being banned, as Daniel Rubino of Windows Central emphasises. Microsoft won’t be in this situation.
According to the reports, the executives are especially interested in growing the company’s advertising division and Bing search. While the latter is understandable, placing a lot of emphasis on and emphasising the former could create an offensive component that would undermine the app’s appeal. Due to its recurrent attempts to insert advertisements and push its services and goods on Windows users excessively, Microsoft has always come under fire. Given that Windows is the most extensively used OS worldwide, it would appear that consumers have little choice but to accept this. This similar strategy won’t work for Microsoft’s envisioned super app, especially in the mobile market where there are many competitors and possibilities.
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