Super-appification: Conglomeration in the global digital economy

Fernando N van der Vlist; Anne Helmond; Michael Dieter; Esther Weltevrede

doi:10.1177/14614448231223419

Super-appification: Conglomeration in the global digital economy

Fernando N van der Vlist, Anne Helmond, Michael Dieter, Esther Weltevrede

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

‘Super apps’ are on the rise. This study explores the characteristics, origins, and manifestations of these apps worldwide, presenting the concept of ‘super-appification’ to describe processes of conglomeration in the global digital economy. Super apps aim to become deeply integrated into people’s everyday lives, capturing and monetising essential activities. By analysing 41 super apps, we identify four distinct types of ‘super-app constellations’, showcasing different patterns and dynamics of conglomeration: ‘Swiss-Army Knife’ apps that consolidate services in one app, ‘Family’ apps that expand through subsidiaries, and ‘Host’ and ‘Hub’-style apps that leverage external developers. This typology offers a comprehensive understanding of the conglomeration patterns underpinning the rise of super apps, involving corporate, development and international expansion strategies. Ultimately, super-appification represents an intensified form of ‘appification’, as these apps increasingly pervade and commodify various aspects of everyday life, such as payment, insurance, grocery delivery, mobility and travel, with significant sociopolitical implications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1–24
Journal	New Media and Society
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231223419
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 10 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Parts of this work were supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Spinoza Prize grant number SPI.2021.001 (awarded in 2021 to José van Dijck, Professor of Media and Digital Society at Utrecht University); the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), project number 262513311 (SFB 1187: ‘Media of Cooperation’); and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), project number VI.Veni.191C.048.

Funders	Funder number
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	262513311, SFB 1187, VI.Veni.191C.048
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	SPI.2021.001

Keywords

App constellations
app economy
app ecosystems
app studies
appification
conglomeration
digital economy
digital methods
platform studies
super apps

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10.1177/14614448231223419Licence: CC BY

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Super-appification: Conglomeration in the global digital economy

Abstract

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Keywords

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