The phenomenal growth of the mobile messaging market has left many carriers and people stunned. Just a few years ago, mobile messaging was something used alongside the more often used carrier calling and messaging plans. Now, however, it’s changed, with messaging app usage outpacing text and mobile VoIP set to hit 1 billion users by 2017.
It’s only going to get bigger from here, as can be seen by a recent Tencent press release sent to our inbox, reporting that WeChat has exceeded 70 million users outside its home turf of China, a growth of 20 million for WeChat since May. This growth is attributable by not only growing word-of-mouth popularity, but also by an aggressive marketing campaign.
Also back in May, WeChat reported 190 million active users worldwide.
Tencent revealed that WeChat’s strongest markets include India, Malaysia, Mexico and the Philippines, with additional pockets of users residing in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. It also recently spreaded to the United Arab Emirates, where the messaging app grew 200% in just a few days and hit 50 million users in the region.