WeChat: Why does Elon Musk want X to emulate China’s everything-app?

//Earlier this week Elon Musk rebranded Twitter to X – another step in his plan to emulate Chinese mega app WeChat.

He has previously praised WeChat – a so-called “everything app” that combines chat, dating, payments and social media – and has said creating something “even close to that with Twitter… would be an immense success”.

…WeChat’s huge success in China is down to two major factors, Kecheng Fang, at Chinese University of Hong Kong, tells the BBC.

For one, most people in China access WeChat on smartphones, rather than desktop computers, due to the relatively late development of the internet in the country.

“Which means they live in the walled gardens of apps rather than the open web. It is much easier to build an ‘everything app’ on smartphones than on computers,” he says.

Mr Fang also says that China’s lack of competition regulation – which contrasts with most Western countries – allows an app like WeChat to effectively block rival platforms, such as shopping platform Taobao and video app Douyin.//

Full article: https://reurl.cc/GAqkWy (BBC News)