Global Competition
There is now intense global competition between messenger apps to grab the top spot. With WhatsApp maintaining the #1 position, WeChat and Line are trailing the top-ranked mobile messenger. Therefore, experts are saying that the rankings could change at any time. In particular, Line is expected to see its total subscribers surpass 500 million at the end of August.
According to industry sources and overseas media outlets on August 20, WhatsApp has now 700 million subscribers, which is the highest-ever figure in membership. Launched in May 2009, the #1 messenger is maintaining the top spot, thanks to its huge popularity in the Americas and Europe.
WhatsApp is followed closely by WeChat with 600 million subscribers, and Line with 490 million. The Chinese messenger app continues to grow based on its popularity in the local market, with the Korean mobile messenger helped by a large number of subscribers in Japan and Southeast Asia.
If WeChat continues to grow at its current pace, it is likely to overtake WhatsApp to become the top-ranked mobile messenger soon. In fact, the number of users for the Chinese messenger app increased from 396 million people in the first quarter of this year to 438 million in Q2. It means that WeChat added 42 million subscribers for three months.
An industry source said, “WeChat has been growing in tandem with a rise in China's smartphone penetration rates.” The source added, “The forecast that WeChat will overtake WhatsApp within this year is not unreasonable.” The fact that WhatsApp has recently been experiencing a slowdown in membership growth supports the prediction.
As far as growth in membership is concerned, Line is a formidable competitor.
The Korean messenger app is adding new members faster than WhatsApp or WeChat. According to Japanese news organizations, Line's subscribers are likely to exceed 500 million people late August. The messenger app was able to attract 100 million new members in four months, after its subscribers surpassed 400 million people on April 1 of this year. In fact, the number of new subscribers has been increasing by 100 million every six months, after recording 100 million people in 2013.
In particular, Line has been increasing users in the Americas and Europe, which are WhatsApp's strongholds. For example, it has recently gained 18 million members in Spain, 15 million in Mexico, and 10 million subscribers in Colombia. Since Line is providing its service in 18 different languages, it is being used in more than 200 countries. That is the reason behind the prediction that the Korean messenger app could escape from the current situation where Line has less active users than WhatsApp or WeChat.
Much attention is also being paid to how much Facebook Messenger will act as a crucial factor.
Facebook, with 1.3 billion members, has entered the messenger market this month, after acquiring WhatsApp last February. Currently, Facebook Messenger is mounting a serious challenge to WhatsApp, WeChat, and Line, as shown by a large number of downloads through the Google Play Store and the Apple’s App Store in major countries such as Korea, the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, and the U.K.