[j1vms]

I suspect wasm is a long-term bet on the part of web advocates (including Google and individuals like Eich) to ensure the web remains center stage in the age of mobile native apps that sit on top pretty powerful mobile hardware. As I understand, it's essentially asm.js repackaged in a more formal, standardized manner and has already gained support from all the major browser vendors.

Once integrated properly in desktop and mobile browsers (maybe two years from now), it would probably reduce most of the "useful" performance lead that native apps have over web apps. But, it's still a bet - because of course, no one really knows for sure what things will look like two years from now.