Samsung ChatON hits 100 million user milestone, to add 13 Indian languages

ChatON, the instant messaging service from Samsung, now has a global subscriber base of over 100 million users, according to company, which also said it plans to add 13 regional languages to the app in India by year-end.

Samsung claims in a statement that its instant messaging service, which was launched in October 2011, has now hit 100 million users, which is double the number it held in May this year. The company mentions that the ChatON app enjoyed steady growth in regions including India, China and the United States, while the app is gaining popularity in Europe and the Middle East.

The company states the ChatON app in India has seen exponential growth, as the service comes with support for 10 regional dialects and the company has plans to support 13 more dialects by the end of 2013. Samsung adds that additional features like the Ramadan Anicon have helped boost ChatON's popularity in the Middle East. According to Samsung, the app has not been limited to Galaxy smartphones and feature phones only. as the app is available for Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone platforms. As of now, the ChatON service supports 63 languages in major countries around the globe.

The instant messaging service is seeing an interesting battle with over a dozen players now contesting for larger userbase in this already saturated space.

WhatsApp, one of the oldest players, still leads the race, as the company recently announced 300 million active users worldwide.

Recently, the much-anticipated release of the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for Android and iOS hit a roadblock, as the company stopped-short the first-ever rollout of the popular messaging app to third-party platforms.