2. Problem
u Mobile-first messenger
u Pay in-store with cash/credit card
u Separate apps for ride-share, food ordering, hotel booking and entertainments
6. Ride share
& taxi hailing
Products- Mini Program
Latest reviews for
books and movies
Food ordering
& delivery
Hotel booking
7. Persona
u Wei Li
u 20-year-old Chinese student in US, goes back to
China once a year
u Little storage available on phone => delete
unused apps
u Re-install all apps that are accessible in China
u Yue Yu
u 45-year old Chinese business woman who uses
cell phone a lot
u Communicates with colleagues instantly
u Buys lunch during lunch break
11. Leadership
u Huateng Ma
u Founder, president, chief executive officer and
executive board member of Tencent Inc.
u Allen Zhang
u Vice president of Tencent Inc. and “father of
WeChat”
u Believe in improving user efficiency
12. History
2011 20182011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
WeChat v1.0
Jan 2011
Mini program
launched
Jan 2017
1B Monthly
Active User
Aug 2018
Ads in
moments
Jan 2015
Social gaming
integration
Aug 2013
Added mobile payment:
start of wallet
Apr 2013
Moments
Launched
Apr 2012
13. Business Model
u Value-added services (VAS)
u Gaming
u Stickers
u Advertisements
u Others
u 0.1% transaction fee
u Official account registration fee
14. Business Model - VAS
- Gaming - Stickers
• 33 friends are playing
• Snazzy costumes & fancy weapons
19. Future
u Huge user base
u one billion daily active users
u 45 billion WeChat messages sent on a daily basis
u 900 million users of WeChat Pay on a monthly basis
u Monetization
u $30.10 per daily active user vs. $2.10 per daily active user
u International expansion
u Number 1 app in three countries
20. Reference
u https://blog.ycombinator.com/lessons-from-wechat/
u https://medium.com/swlh/wechat-the-evolution-and-future-of-chinas-most-
popular-app-11effa5639ed
u https://www.businessofapps.com/data/wechat-statistics/
u https://www.visualcapitalist.com/china-digital-wallets-payments/
u https://qlian100.expressions.syr.edu/leadership/
u https://medium.com/@lianghao.gao/business-model-of-wechat-and-its-success-
factors-ce72d0f550fa
u https://medium.com/servicedock/making-money-from-messaging-wechat-versus-
messenger-ea0e34511b86
u https://a16z.com/2019/02/05/allen-zhang-wechat-product-principles/
u https://www.techinasia.com/history-of-wechat
