Entrepreneur and NYC Stern School professor Scott Galloway predicts that the first $10 trillion U.S. tech corporation will be a smartphone app.
Scott Galloway, a successful entrepreneur and NYC Stern School professor, forecasts that the first $10 trillion U.S. tech business will be a smartphone app. However audacious, considering what some applications have accomplished and what most have the ability to do, the idea is not that far-fetched. Super applications are already commonplace throughout most of Asia and elsewhere, so the U.S. may soon follow suit. Uber, PayPal, and Facebook have super app ambitions.
Capabilities that are amplified
Many applications offer banking, retail, and other services, but in the West, having everything in one app is rare. Building their own ecosystem for millions, if not billions, of users is what businesses are looking for. They hope to serve as a one-stop shop for all of our daily needs.
Through its app, Uber has introduced a new feature that lets users browse and reserve dinner reservations, live events, and other activities. Trains, buses, airlines, and auto rentals will soon be available on the company’s app, as it has already revealed.
In addition to bill payment, savings account, and in-app shopping features, PayPal is planning to give its app investment capabilities. The new software, according to CEO Dan Shulman, “removes the complexity of having to manage various banking or shopping apps.” The business also highlighted a Juniper Research report that predicted that by 2025, there will be 4.4 billion users using digital wallets worldwide.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is pursuing its own financial goals with plans to include loan services to its apps and has already held talks with potential lending partners.
Yet none of this comes close to what Asian super apps are accomplishing. On the WeChat platform, there are an incredible 3 million tiny apps. With over a billion monthly users, some say you can’t exist in China without WeChat. WeChat’s mini programs processed $240 billion in 2020, more than double the previous year’s total. And through those programs, total transaction volumes have increased by 897% during the previous two years.
South America has seen a boom in super applications as well. Brazil’s underbanked demographics can use app-based digital finance. According to Accenture, 43% of Brazilians use digital services and are fintech pioneers.
Looking Ahead
As huge U.S. technology companies enter the financial services market and Western apps try to follow up, regulatory issues and constraints are starting to surface. Several technology companies that manage payment systems in the US have been asked by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide details about their strategies and operations. Many people are unsure whether a dominant app like WeChat could actually exist in the United States due to scrutiny both inside and outside of government about the dominance of the tech industry.
Companies are nonetheless fighting for super app status and pushing forward with aspirations to include everything we do online despite barriers posed by competition or regulations. According to KMPG, super applications will continue to be popular with consumers and enterprises for at least the next ten years. It is undeniable that the race has begun.
