Following in the footsteps of the other big social platforms, Chinese social messaging giant WeChat has now crossed the one-billion-account mark.
We may hear mostly about the bigger and most well-known “western” social networks – giants like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Snapchat – but we sometimes forget that there are giants hailing from the East as well. Such an example is Rakuten’s Viber, which recently crossed the one-billion-user mark and launched group chats with virtually unlimited members.
Now, Chinese social platform WeChat counts over one billion accounts; and despite a lot of its growth taking place inside its home market of China, the app is easily taking over parts of Southeast Asia, and is growing fast in Europe and the US. With many Chinese living abroad signing up as well, we can continue to see it grow further across the globe.
The “one billion” number refers to accounts – as many users have over one account on the platform, but it still has over 902 million daily users who send roughly 38 billion messages each day. The app covers many needs that neither Facebook nor any other “western” app can support, allowing its users to do everything from chat, to pay bills, to book flights. WeChat grew 15.8% since last year, and that’s growth that you can’t easily turn up your nose at.
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