Elon Musk, the renowned entrepreneur, has made a bold move by changing his Twitter name to X and declaring his intention to create a versatile ‘super app’ that can perform a multitude of functions. Musk’s teasing tweets suggest that he plans to integrate a wide range of communication services and financial features into Twitter/X within a few months.
However, despite the excitement surrounding Musk’s announcement, there are more skeptics than supporters who question whether his ambitious claims will actually materialize. This skepticism stems not only from Musk’s past track record of not delivering on promises, but also from the difficulty of turning his vision of a super app into reality.
While the concept of super apps, which offer a comprehensive range of features and services within a single application, may be appealing to businesses as a means of generating more revenue and expanding their user base, the success of this strategy outside of Asia has been limited. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that although companies like PayPal and Snap have expressed interest in developing super apps, none have been successful in the United States.
In contrast, super apps like KakaoTalk Korea, Tencent’s WeChat, and Grab have thrived in Southeast Asia, illustrating the potential of this concept. However, in North America and Europe, the super app strategy remains largely theoretical rather than practical.
There are several factors contributing to this disparity. Firstly, Western users were already accustomed to using various apps and websites before the emergence of WeChat and Grab. Consequently, changing these deeply ingrained user habits is not an easy task, despite the introduction of innovative apps.
Furthermore, cultural differences and differing market dynamics play a role. WeChat, for instance, originated in a country where smartphone digitization took place early on. Twitter/X, on the other hand, faces the challenge of promoting a similar concept in a context where achieving broad adoption is considerably more difficult.
Additionally, regulation poses a significant hurdle for advanced apps in the United States. If Elon Musk intends to expand Twitter/X into the realm of finance, he will encounter regulatory challenges far exceeding the content management regulations he has previously encountered. The financial industry is heavily regulated, and companies offering lending or money transfer services are subject to scrutiny by both state and federal agencies. Failing to adhere to the regulations can result in fines. While Twitter/X has obtained non-custodial financial services licenses in several US states, obtaining nationwide licenses could take a considerable amount of time, according to industry experts cited by the WSJ.
It is worth noting that previous attempts by US tech companies to enter the financial services space have not yielded the desired results. Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, teamed up with Square (now known as Block) to launch SnapCash, a payment service integrated into Snapchat. However, the service was discontinued after four years. PayPal, a prominent online payment platform, also faced challenges when expanding into stock transactions and in-store payments, ultimately prioritizing its core payment services instead.
In conclusion, while Elon Musk’s plans to transform Twitter into a super app are generating buzz, there are valid doubts about the feasibility of this endeavor. The success of similar concepts in Asia does not guarantee the same outcome in the West, where users have established behaviors and regulations present significant challenges. Only time will tell if Musk’s vision will become a reality.
[사진: 셔터스톡]
[디지털투데이 황치규 기자] Elon Musk changed his Twitter name to X and is pouring out tweets saying that he will grow X into a so-called ‘super app’ that can do everything. He continues his typical tease that he will add a wide range of communication services and financial features to Twitter/X in a few months.
At this point, there seem to be more skeptical views than positive ones about whether Musk’s boast will come true. It’s not just because of precedent that many of Musk’s promises weren’t kept on time. There are many evaluations that Musk’s vision of a super app is easy to say and a very difficult challenge to make.
For businesses, super apps that provide as many features and services as possible in one app can be an attractive strategy as they can generate more revenue and expand their user base. However, it is also a sobering reality that there are few cases where the great apps strategy worked outside of Asia.
According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), many companies, such as PayPal and Snap, have been calling for a super app, but no super app has been successful in the United States.
Apps such as KakaoTalk Korea, Tencent’s WeChat, and Grab, which are expanding their presence in Southeast Asia, are cited as examples of the potential of super apps, but in North America and Europe, super is a strategy only in theory -apps.
There are many reasons and interpretations for this. First of all, Western users were already familiar with using various apps and websites before WeChat and Grab came out. This means that it won’t be easy to change these user habits just because great apps like WeChat and Grab are coming out now.
The WSJ quoted Inside Intelligence analyst Yory Wurmser as saying, “Credit cards are also common in the West. It’s not,” he said.
Ben Thompson, an analyst who publishes the Strait Cherry newsletter, said, “WeChat arose in a country where digitization first happened around smartphones. ) Twitter/X puts the idea of WeChat in a context where it is difficult to reach everyone.”
The New York Times also quoted Florida International University professor Dan Freudholm as saying, “Americans are used to using single services. This makes it difficult to move towards multi-service apps. “There is some trend that I don’t like being too dependent.”
Regulations are also seen as a factor making it difficult for advanced apps to work in the United States. There are already comments that if Elon Musk tries to expand Twitter / X into finance, he will face a situation that goes far beyond the level of regulation he has faced with content management.
Companies that lend or transfer money are not immune from the scrutiny of individual state and federal agencies in the United States. You can face fines if you don’t follow the rules. So far Twitter/X has received non-custodial financial services licenses in at least four US states, but it could take a year or more to get licenses nationwide, the WSJ industry veterans noted.
It is also worth noting that several US tech companies expanded into financial services before Twitter/X, but many did not achieve the desired results.
Snap, which operates Snapchat’s mobile messenger, teamed up with Square, now renamed Block, to launch SnapCash, a Snapchat-based payment service, in 2014, but shut it down four years later.
PayPal, a strong online payment platform, also tried to expand its territory with stock transactions and in-store payments, but suffered difficulties in the implementation process, preventing stock transactions and in-store payments from dropping its priority, the WSJ reported.
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