Microsoft wants to compete with Google, Apple with a ‘super app’

At a time when companies such as Google and Apple are further developing and strengthening their “ecosystems”, Microsoft is playing catch up. However, it seems the company has reinvented itself and is now making inroads in consumer services, thanks to its investments in this space over the last few years. In a recent development, a report suggests that the Windows maker recently considered building a “super app”.
As per a report by The Information, this “super app” could combine shopping, messaging, web search, news feeds and other services. Citing people with direct knowledge of the discussions, the report says that Microsoft executives wanted the app to boost the company’s multibillion-dollar advertising business and Bing search. They also wanted to bring more users onboard to Teams messaging and other mobile services.

Unlike Apple and Google, Microsoft doesn’t operate a mobile app store for smartphone users. However, offering an all-in-one app could prove to be a consumer magnet. For example, Tencent’s WeChat is one such app that evolved over time and now offers shopping, online games, news and a variety of services, including grocery ordering, alongside instant messaging.
People with knowledge of the matter say that WeChat is a source of inspiration for top Microsoft executives. It is to be noted that currently there is no clarity on whether this “super app” will ever be developed and released.
Microsoft also eying mobile gaming industry
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is currently under scrutiny in multiple markets, including in the UK. Microsoft, in a filing to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, revealed that the company wants to expand the Xbox Store to mobile devices by creating a new Xbox Mobile Platform that will include games from Activision Blizzard and King.
Microsoft knows that mobile gaming is a booming space and both Apple and Google are gaining a lot through their respective app stores. The company said that it wanted to provide a new outlet that provides familiar games like Call of Duty and Candy Crush to attract gamers to the “new Xbox Mobile Platform.”