WeChat, a popular instant messaging tool run by Tencent Holdings, aims to help users access mobile services without downloading separate apps, which experts said may challenge the business of smartphone app distributors such as Apple Store.

由腾讯控股运营的流行即时通讯工具微信，旨在帮助用户获得移动服务，而无需另外下载应用程序，专家表示，这可能对智能手机应用程序分销商构成挑战，比如苹果商店的业务。

This new feature, dubbed² "Xiaochengxu" (Little Program), allows WeChat users to find a variety of services such as ticket buying by scanning a quick-response code, saving them the trouble of installing a number of different apps on smart devices, according to the transcript³ of a speech by Zhang Xiaolong, Tencent's senior executive vice¹ president, last Wednesday.

腾讯高级执行副总裁张小龙上周三发表演讲称，这一新功能名为“小程序”，它允许微信用户通过扫码来查找如购票在内的各种服务，从而省去在智能设备上安装多个不同应用程序的麻烦。

Zhang, known as the father of WeChat, emphasized that Little Program is not a mobile app distributing function.

张小龙，也被称为微信之父，他强调，小程序不是一个移动应用程序的分发功能。

Still, experts and app developers said that the rollout of Little Program on WeChat will erode⁴ the market share of app distributors like Apple Store in China.

不过，专家和应用程序开发人员表示，小程序在微信上的推出将削弱苹果商店在中国应用程序分销商的市场份额。

"Little Program will attract lots of start-ups, because a program based on WeChat can help them build up businesses at much lower costs," a Shanghai-based app developer, told the Global Times.

上海的一位应用开发商在接受《环球时报》采访时表示：“小程序将吸引大量新创公司，因为基于微信的项目可以帮助他们以更低的成本来建立业务。”

If a start-up wants to promote its business via a separate application, it has to hire a special team to develop two different apps - one each for iOS and Android.

如果一个新创公司希望通过一个单独的应用程序来推广其业务，就必须雇佣一个特殊的团队来开发两个不同的应用程序--一个iOS版，一个Android版。

Launched in 2011, WeChat has evolved to include services such as car-hailing, food deliveries, e-commerce and utility payments from just an instant messaging app.

于2011年推出的微信已经发展为集网约车、食品交付、电子商务和公用事业支付等功能于一体的即时通讯应用程序。