Long gone are the days people would simply SMS or call to stay connected. The internet has simplified it all and companies are rushing to cash in on the fast earning and growing industry. What makes WhatsApp the most popular among the messaging apps, is its ability to keep irritating pop-ups and in-line advertisements away. At
an event earlier this year, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton talked of the company’s idea behind starting the messaging app. “I worked several years for free and
had the hardest time explaining to
people in the United States, it resonated
well in Europe. WhatsApp provides
phone number-based messaging
and people started asking isn’t
that what SMS is? Yes, but SMS is expensive,
antiquated and what we did
is modernize and level that playing
field.”
WhatsApp new owners, Facebook,
with their Messenger are the second
biggest Instant Messenger (IM) and
now control 79 percent of the market.
Quick to follow with the success of
WhatsApp was Japanese messaging
app Line who recently filed for an IPO
valued at over 5.9 billion pounds.
WhatsApp has registered over 500
million active users, while Line reported
to have 480 million and
WeChat, 396 million active users.
Companies like Skype and Viber
have taken the IM further, with the
ability to make internet calls across
the world, for a pittance
But how do these companies then
make money? Messaging apps focus
more on networks of people that live
in your contact list. And to supplement
this they add platforms for
shopping, financial services, payments,
stickers, celebrity cameos and
much more. Games however are the
easiest way for IM apps to survive.
Most of Line’s revenues come from
games on its platform.
Another app Tango has taken to the
gaming industry to survive. With only
70 million monthly users, the app recently
announced it would invest $25
million in a Global Games Fund that
will help game developers to make,
distribute and promote games within
and outside the app.
Though some games allow one to
register for free, the in app purchases
provide the revenue for the company.
Commonly referred to as ‘freemium’
games, the European Commission
earlier this month said that games
with in- app purchases were no
longer labelled free. Surprisingly,
freemium games accounted for 93
percent of app game revenue in
2013.
WhatsApp on the other hand
charges a subscription of $0.99 per
year after the initial free year long
trial.
While the big names are raking in
the big bucks, smaller companies are
trying their luck at inventing newer
and more innovative messaging applications.
La- La is a musical messaging
app that lets users chat with song
snippets. For instance, a user can
greet another user with ‘Hello’ by Lionel
Richie. The user can simply select
the song snippet, choose their
friend and simply send it either
through the app or as an SMS.
Wiper, yet another app allows for
the user to permanently delete a conversation.
The app available for iOS
as well as Android enabled phones
can wipe away messages from the
sender’s phone, the recipient’s phone
and the company’s own servers in
seconds. Wiper also offers encrypted
HD voice calling and will even tell you
when the other person takes a screenshot
of your conversation.
Also gaining popularity with young
users in India is the homemade Hike
Messenger. Banking on the privacy
angle, the app works in the same way
that WhatsApp, WeChat and Line do,
with the added advantage of controlling
who in your contact list can see
your ‘last seen’ details.
