Super Apps, Asia's new innovation, to change cities, economies

SINGAPORE (Nov 7): The ability to communicate, shop online, order rides, read books, play games, get food delivery and pay for anything within a single, unified smartphone app is Asia’s defining innovation, technology leaders said at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Singapore.

WeChat, Grab and Go-Jek are prime examples of a breed of software called the Super App. In the US and Europe, such services are offered separately for iPhone and Android users. That’s not the case in China and Southeast Asia, where the apps open the door for big changes to how people live and do business, according to Southeast Asia’s two most valuable startups, Grab and Go-Jek.

“There’s so much excitement,” said Anthony Tan, Grab’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We see the price of smartphones and data falling, we see the democratization of technology. We see this world where the rise of millennials and they want everything now and they want it immediately.”

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