Timeline and Technology
The year WeChat was launched by Tencent as a mobile-first messaging app.
What is 2011?
WeChat’s original business function monetizes indirectly via traffic and engagement.
What is messaging/social communication?
The primary side that creates direct network effects on WeChat.
Who are users (individual consumers)?
The co-founder and long-time CEO of Tencent who championed user-centric product design and long-term thinking.
Who is Pony Ma?
One reason WeChat struggles internationally is concerns about this issue.
What is censorship and surveillance?
This feature, launched in 2013, transformed WeChat from messaging app to payments ecosystem during the Chinese New Year.
What are Digital Red Envelopes (Hongbao)?
This WeChat feature generates revenue through transaction fees and merchant services.
What is WeChat Pay?
This side benefits from cross-side network effects as more users join the platform.
Who are developers and businesses?
This product leader was instrumental in launching WeChat in 2011 and is often credited as its “father.”
Who is Allen Zhang (Zhang Xiaolong)?
WeChat evolved from a messaging app into this type of all-in-one platform.
What is a super app?
This 2017 innovation allowed users to access lightweight apps without downloading them.
What are Mini Programs?
Mini Programs create value by enabling this revenue model between developers and users.
What is platform intermediation (commission/traffic monetization)?
When more users attract more Mini Programs, which in turn attract more users, this type of network effect occurs.
What is an indirect (cross-side) network effect?
This U.S. social media company posed an early global competitive benchmark for WeChat’s messaging strategy.
What is Facebook?
WeChat limits this number of ads per day in the social feed to protect user experience.
What is two ads per day?
The transition to this mobile network technology enabled heavier data features like voice and video sharing.
What is 3G mobile networking?
Official Accounts allow brands to engage users through this business model.
What is digital marketing and advertising?
The more friends that join WeChat, the more valuable it becomes, an example of this phenomenon.
What are direct network effects?
This Alibaba affiliate led by Jack Ma was WeChat Pay’s fiercest rival in digital payments.
What is Ant Group?
WeChat’s continued dominance was driven not only by early installed base advantages but also by this capability.
What is continuous innovation and strategic agility?
By 2019, WeChat reached this major milestone in monthly active users.
What is over one billion monthly active users?
WeChat’s ecosystem strategy turns it into this type of economic entity rather than a single-product firm.
What is a multi-sided platform?
Opening the platform to third-party developers increased innovation but introduced this governance challenge.
What is platform control versus openness trade-off?
This once-dominant internet portal serves as a cautionary example of strategic diffusion and lack of focus in platform strategy discussions.
What is Yahoo!?
Expanding internationally may require breaking up the super app model, which risks alienating this key group.
Who are core Chinese users?