TY - GEN
T1 - Emergence of a post-app era - An exploratory case study of the wechat mini-program ecosystem
AU - Cheng, Kathleen
AU - Schreieck, Maximilian
AU - Wiesche, Manuel
AU - Krcmar, Helmut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Business Information Systems 2020 "Developments, Opportunities and Challenges of Digitization", WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 2020.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Mobile applications (apps) have long fueled the growth of digital business models. However, an increasing reluctance amongst smartphone users to download them has surfaced. For services of infrequent use, it is questionable whether native apps and their respective app stores still offer a suitable development strategy. In China, a novel phenomenon responds to the debate, introducing lightweight micro-apps embedded into the social messaging platform of WeChat. Known as Mini-Programs (MPs), WeChat enables third-party developers to create light apps within its own infrastructure, essentially creating an ecosystem of apps within an app. Supported by an exploratory case study, we shed light on this platform innovation and investigate its implications within the field of mobile platform ecosystems. Our findings implicate that the one-size-fits-all approach of native apps as a general-purpose technology does not meet specific needs of platform users and could be supplemented by innovations such as MPs to fill the gap.
AB - Mobile applications (apps) have long fueled the growth of digital business models. However, an increasing reluctance amongst smartphone users to download them has surfaced. For services of infrequent use, it is questionable whether native apps and their respective app stores still offer a suitable development strategy. In China, a novel phenomenon responds to the debate, introducing lightweight micro-apps embedded into the social messaging platform of WeChat. Known as Mini-Programs (MPs), WeChat enables third-party developers to create light apps within its own infrastructure, essentially creating an ecosystem of apps within an app. Supported by an exploratory case study, we shed light on this platform innovation and investigate its implications within the field of mobile platform ecosystems. Our findings implicate that the one-size-fits-all approach of native apps as a general-purpose technology does not meet specific needs of platform users and could be supplemented by innovations such as MPs to fill the gap.
KW - Mini-programs
KW - Mobile platform ecosystems
KW - Multi-sided platform ecosystems
KW - Platform innovation
KW - Wechat
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101661567&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.30844/wi_2020_n1
DO - 10.30844/wi_2020_n1
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85101661567
T3 - Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Business Information Systems 2020 "Developments, Opportunities and Challenges of Digitization", WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 2020
BT - Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Business Information Systems 2020 "Developments, Opportunities and Challenges of Digitization", WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 2020
PB - GITO Verlag
T2 - 15th International Conference on Business Information Systems 2020: Developments, Opportunities and Challenges of Digitization, WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 2020
Y2 - 8 March 2020 through 11 March 2020
ER -