China's WeChat Sends a Message to Line and Kakao in Their Home Turf

Advertisement
By Reuters | Updated: 18 February 2015 14:41 IST
China's WeChat Sends a Message to Line and Kakao in Their Home Turf
Mobile messaging apps Line and Kakao Talk are busy trying to conquer overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and India. But they may do well to keep a close eye on their home turf of Japan and South Korea as China's WeChat amasses more users.

Among six messaging apps, WeChat saw the biggest upptick in usage in Japan and South Korea last month versus a year earlier, boosted by its gaming, e-commerce and multimedia capabilities, according to data on Android smartphones tracked by Mobidia.

An analysis by the mobile analytics firm compared the amount of time users spent on Tencent's WeChat, Naver's Line, Daum Kakao's Kakao Talk, Blackberry Messenger and Facebook's WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

WeChat's inroads in Japan and South Korea could help ease some investor anxiety over Tencent's overseas expansion after the Chinese company said it had not gained as large a footprint in Western markets as in other countries.

Competition is rife, particularly in tech-savvy Asia, as messaging apps fight to stand out by combining messaging functions with other offerings ranging from cartoon stickers to online shopping.

Advertisement

Line said this month it is launching its "Cheap Sure Sure" online grocery delivery service in Thailand, its No.2 market after Japan.

The biggest battlegrounds in the Asia-Pacific are China, Australia and Indonesia, though India is garnering more attention as the local cost of smartphones falls, middle class wealth increases and wireless infrastructure improves.

Advertisement

India is the fastest-growing market in the region, the Mobidia data shows, led by WhatsApp, and with Kakao Talk not too far behind at No.2.

And there will be casualties. Last month, Facebook Messenger usage plummeted in nine out of 10 Asia-Pacific countries, the Mobidia data shows.

Advertisement

Samsung Electronics, which once held lofty ambitions for ChatON, said it will discontinue the app in all markets on March 31.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Apps, Line, Messaging Apps, WeChat, WhatsApp
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Asus Launches NUC 15 Pro Mini PC in India With These Features
  2. Vivo X300 Pro Could Offer a 50-Megapixel Sony LYT-828 Sensor
  3. Vivo V60 Colours, Specifications and Design Leaked Ahead of India Launch
  4. Gutar Gu Season 3 Now Streaming on Amazon MX Player: What You Need to Know
  5. Airtel Offers Free Year-Long Perplexity Pro Subscription to All Users
  1. Young Exoplanet Spotted Shedding Atmosphere Under Stellar Radiation
  2. Transverse Thomson Effect Observed Experimentally: Unlocking New Possibilities in Thermal Management
  3. China Launches Advanced Spacesuits and 7.2 Tons of Supplies to Tiangong Space Station
  4. Gravitational Waves Reveal Most Massive Black Hole Merger Ever Observed
  5. NASA’s Parker Probe Sends Closest-Ever Images from Inside the Sun’s Corona
  6. Uranus Found Emitting Internal Heat, Reviving Hopes for Flagship NASA Mission
  7. JWST Finds Black Hole Between Galaxy Cores, Hinting at Rare Direct Collapse Birth
  8. ESO Captures Clear Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Using VLT
  9. Kaliyugam Now Streaming on SunNXT: Everything You Need to Know
  10. Slack Updated With AI-Powered Enterprise Search, Channel Recaps, Huddles AI Meeting Notes and Translations
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.