Elon Musk's plans for Twitter may take inspiration from Chinese super apps

Elon Musk's revived $44 cardinal woody to bargain Twitter sparked caller statement implicit what the billionaire volition bash with the work if helium yet owns it.

On Tuesday, Musk tweeted that buying Twitter is an "accelerant to creating X, the everything app." He did not supply further details.

Musk whitethorn beryllium hinting toward alleged "super apps" which are fashionable successful China and different parts of Asia and pioneered by the likes of Chinese exertion elephantine Tencent.

Super apps is simply a word to picture an app that often acts arsenic a one-stop store for each your mobile needs. For example, you mightiness bid a taxi oregon nutrient via the app and astatine the aforesaid clip bash payments and messaging. This eliminates the request to person aggregate apps for antithetic functions.

Chinese app WeChat, tally by Tencent, is the biggest ace app successful the world, with implicit a cardinal users.

In WeChat, users tin connection people, bash mobile banking, wage for things online oregon successful store by scanning a barcode, play games, station videos, bash online shopping, hail a car and galore different things.

When Musk talks astir "the everything app," helium could beryllium reasoning astir WeChat.

The Tesla CEO has antecedently expressed admiration for WeChat calling the app "great" during a municipality hallway with Twitter employees successful June. Musk said determination is nary WeChat equivalent extracurricular of China.

"And I deliberation that there's a existent accidental to make that," Musk told employees. "You fundamentally unrecorded connected WeChat successful China due to the fact that it's truthful utile and truthful adjuvant to your regular life. And I deliberation if we could execute that, oregon adjacent adjacent to that with Twitter, it would beryllium an immense success."

Musk said that helium wants astatine slightest a cardinal radical utilizing Twitter, up from 237.8 cardinal astatine the extremity of the 2nd quarter.

One of WeChat's biggest features is WeChat Pay. This is simply a diagnostic wherever users tin scan a barcode successful a store to wage via their mobile oregon they tin nonstop wealth to friends via the chat function. WeChat Pay tin besides beryllium utilized for purchases online.

Musk said during the municipality hallway that helium thinks that payments wrong Twitter would beryllium an "interesting happening to do."

However, ace apps similar WeChat haven't truly taken disconnected successful a large mode successful Europe, the U.S. and different occidental markets.

WeChat meantime is heavy censored successful China, thing Musk is improbable to bash with Twitter, fixed his past criticisms of the platform's contented moderation strategy which the billionaire feels has stifled escaped speech.