Microsoft May Build ‘Super App’ To Break Google And Apple's Hold On Mobile Search: Report

The report said that Microsoft’s push is led by CEO Satya Nadella, who is focused on “pushing the Bing search engine to work better with other Microsoft mobile products.”

Microsoft’s push is led by CEO Satya Nadella.

Tech behemoth Microsoft is considering building a “super app” that could include shopping, messaging, web search, news feeds and other services, says a report by The Information. The report quoted people with direct knowledge of the discussions, stating that through this app, Microsoft executives want to boost advertising business and draw more people to Bing and Teams messaging and other mobile services.

Microsoft’s push is led by CEO Satya Nadella, who is focused on “pushing the Bing search engine to work better with other Microsoft mobile products.” 

The report also noted that the company wants to compete with Apple and Google's mobile dominance on search. On Apple, Microsoft’s Bing is at a disadvantage as the iPhone maker makes Google’s search engine the default on all of its platforms. The report also highlighted that the arrangement between Google and Apple is facing an increasing amount of antitrust scrutiny. 

Super Apps are all-in-one applications. They were made popular by WeChat, which offers a range of services for its users such as messaging, social networking, peer-to-peer payments, and e-commerce shopping.

Although it is still unclear whether the company will eventually release such an application. Last month, the tech giant rolled out several updates to its platform Teams. The updates bring new features such as schedule messages, instant polls, unread toggle, schedule send, and more. 

The company also introduced 'polls' that offer users a way to create polls right away with the Microsoft Forms app, making meetings more engaging in Teams.

According to news agency Reuters, Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk has shown interest in building a super app named "X" that would combine a multitude of services.