Warc, 4 August 2014
LONDON: WhatsApp, the instant messaging service, has
overtaken Facebook's own Messenger service to become the top chat app in the
world outside of China, a new survey has revealed.
According to the latest Mobile Messaging survey by
GlobalWebIndex, an online market research firm, WhatsApp was used by nearly 40%
of the worldwide mobile internet audience each month of its survey covering Q2
2014.
Based on the usage of instant messaging tools by 600m adults
aged 16-64 across 32 markets, the survey found the audience for this activity
has grown 30% over the past two years.
Despite the growth of WhatsApp, which Facebook is in the
process of acquiring for $19bn, Facebook Messenger saw a sharp rise in usage in
some countries. In the UK, for example, it has increased from 27% in Q4 2013 to
40% by Q2 2014.
GlobalWebIndex attributed this to Facebook's decision to
remove the messaging component from its main app and transfer it to the
Messenger service.
After Facebook Messenger were Skype (32%) and Line (10%) in
terms of global usage, but other apps tracked in the survey – such as Snapchat
and WeChat – were used by relatively small percentages globally or were limited
to particular markets.
WeChat, for example, was the top chat app in China – perhaps
unsurprisingly – and used by 84% while Snapchat was the most popular in mature
markets.
Snapchat secured 14% of the mobile audience in the UK, US
and Ireland, but also scored highly in Canada and Australia, and it remained
very popular among teenagers. Nearly half (48%) of 16-19 year-olds in the UK
used the service.
WhatsApp was most used in South Africa (78%) and Malaysia
(75%), but was also dominant in Argentina, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain and
India.
In other findings, just under two-thirds of WhatsApp users
reported that mobile chat apps were now one of their primary forms of
communication, with over half confirming that they have overtaken SMS as the
way they typically send messages.
Also, over three-quarters of WhatsApp users believed
Facebook has no right to sell their personal information to gain ad revenue,
and 85% were concerned about how companies might use their conversations
without their knowledge.
Data sourced from GlobalWebIndex; additional content by Warc
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