WhatsApp monthly active users up to 350 million the reason for success is simple

This week is very important for SMS start-up WhatsApp. According to the latest data, the company's current monthly number of active users reached 350 million, WhatsApp chief executive Koum in Sunday revealed that their users share more than 400 million photos a day. It is clear that the number of photos that the Koum refers to is the number of photos sent by the user, not the total photo reception. This concept can easily be confused when we evaluate the delivery of short messages. This is a good score for a short message app, especially if you compare the number of photos you share with other services on a daily basis, you'll find that WhatsApp is doing well. Just last month, Snapchat revealed that its users share about 350 million photos a day, as much as Facebook shared photos as of September. Clearly, there is a reason Snapchat refused to Zuckerberg a 1 billion dollar takeover. Instagram the average number of photo-sharing per day is 55 million, because no other short message application to disclose their daily photo sharing number, so I can not use WhatsApp similar applications to compare. WhatsApp's growth rate was so fast that in April this year, they had 200 million-month active users, and by the end of the year, the figure was bound to double, according to their recent development. This figure shows that WhatsApp has a large number of active users, and the user participation is also very high. WhatsApp seems to be winning the Battle of mobile short message service. As of August, its closest competitor---Micro-letter monthly active users just over 235 million, but most of these users are from mainland China. And WhatsApp other competitors that do not disclose their monthly active user volume, also did not disclose their number of registered users. Koum's response was interesting. Direct digital Comparisons, he argues, are the real battle. And WhatsApp competitors did not provide relevant data to do contrast, in fact, is the default WhatsApp in the market dominance. e?e?g2013 May 1, Koum on his Twitter account, comparing the total number of registered users and active users, as compared with Ferrari's GTO and scooter seats. But while the gap between rivals and WhatsApp is huge, there is no guarantee that WhatsApp will remain dominant in the US, as well as in the short news markets of the west and the world. Are people tired of WhatsApp? The success of WhatsApp can be attributed to the fact that they do not have as many functions as other app applications, and minimalism is on the one hand, and on the other hand, they have a preconceived advantage when they enter the market earlier. WhatsApp was launched in 2009, its simple design, convenient use by the technology to reach people's welcome. ButIs that, as other apps add games, chat expressions, video calls, and other features, will users be looking for more communication experiences, giving up WhatsApp without rendering the SMS user experience? According to data from app analytics company Onavo, which has been acquired by Facebook, WhatsApp growth is slowing, at least in the US market and iOS platform. The BGR website reported that the number of iphone users using WhatsApp has declined for three consecutive months, from 9.25% in May to 7.97% in August. Even more surprisingly, the rate of decline seems to be intensifying. In stark contrast, Kik applications, whose user participation rose from 4.81% in May to 5.83% in August. Another similar application, GroupMe, rose from 2.45% to 2.81%. The data from App Annie, another app analytics company, show that although WhatsApp's rankings have been high for the past few years, in the past few and time, There is a wavering phenomenon: the first drop occurred during Christmas in 2013, but the recent turmoil is different from the past. This may be because Apple has changed the App Store algorithm, but one possibility is that American consumers have "aesthetic fatigue" towards WhatsApp. The phenomenon is the same in Britain, France, Germany and other countries. Is it that the users in these areas have opted for more SMS applications? Or is the WhatsApp reaching saturation? Or is competition slowing its growth? Clearly, the answers vary. Update: WhatsApp currently has a new iOS application pricing mechanism, the application can be downloaded free of charge, the first 12 months can be used for free, but after a year to pay 0.99 dollars. WhatsApp this change is mainly in response to recent changes in the App Store. Another interesting example is the WhatsApp competition in Spain. In Spain, the number of downloads in line has topped 15 million, although this is not small, WhatsApp has dominated the Spanish market and is the most active of the local short message applications. WhatsApp another competitor, micro-letters, has also been widely promoted in Spain, inviting the Barcelona Football club's star Lionel Messi to shoot his latest ad. Short Message application platform WhatsApp business model is very simple to design from the outset: users pay 0.99 dollars a year for unrestricted use. Whataapp has no use restrictions, and no ads, no marketing content, no games. We don't know exactly how many registered users Whataapp, but judging from its 300 million active users, WhatsApp has about 500 million to 1 billion liveJump paid users. This is a no small number, of course, if all the friends around you use WhatsApp, then 0.99 dollars is not expensive. But with the advent of free short message applications, WhatsApp's growth pressures will follow. These free SMS applications use a completely different business model: content distribution. Line is a company that uses this pattern, which is typical: line is actually a content and communication mobile platform. At the same time, line is a distribution network of games and digital content, and they plan to launch E-commerce, music, and other services in the future. In addition, line also charges to the enterprise, the enterprise can use line built network to the designated users to push advertising and marketing information. In addition to the business model, line is better than WhatsApp in the user experience, they offer video/audio call services, social game app, and other service functions. Line revenue of more than 500 million per annum is based on its business in the previous quarter, its quarterly business growth rate of 45%. That's not all, with more than 30 social gaming and social apps on line, thanks to massive marketing campaigns and strong advertising budgets. South Korea's Kakao Talk and China's micro-letter, are the local market hegemony, they are seeking international development. In the US market, WhatsApp's rivals include Tango,kik and BlackBerry BBM, which also have games and other content services. In the Asian market, where users are more concerned, for example, the Korean social network "Web toons" is even bigger than Facebook on the mainland, and the short messaging companies in Asia are looking to expand outside of Asia. The question now is whether users in other regions are ready to receive new services. What is the key to WhatsApp's victory? Media outlets say that only companies or app apps that can provide a "deeper, richer user experience" will remain invincible in the mobile short message market. If you think about it, does the question mean that minimalism can beat multimedia content services? If the multimedia and content-led SMS service wins, then WhatsApp will be in a very difficult position. WhatsApp the vast majority of competitors are focused on both iOS and Android platforms (the two largest platforms developers use), but the WhatsApp user community seems to be more diverse. Koum said this week that WhatsApp had 250,000 registered users each week, all using Nokia handsets. This is not a small number, and it is said that the number of new subscribers WhatsApp from the Nokia mobile phone is more than 7.5 million a month. In fact, it is technically difficult to develop a game and content platform to meet Nokia Asha handsets, Symbian Systems, and even BlackBerry systems. Similarly, development can be compatibleWhindows phone game is not so easy. So it's not hard to see why Koum and WhatsApp don't like the reason why games and other non-short message services are being developed. So far, WhatsApp's very short messaging service has not been abandoned in western markets, but in Asia, especially with line, micro-mail, and other short message services, although the average mobile user will use at least a few mobile messaging applications, there is no denying that WhatsApp will lose some market share. But now that these mobile messaging applications in Asia are looking for global expansion, and WhatsApp other competitors like Kik,tango and so on, are focusing on developing their own services, then there is the question that Will Western markets stick to WhatsApp, a minimalist im application?