Tencent’s WeChat started its international expansion in 2013 and has taken the region by storm, according to latest reports published in the SCMP saying the app has seen a 97% usage growth boom. Why? Its versatility.
If you’re messaging, gaming or paying for something online, chances are if you’re living in Asia Pacific, you’re doing it through WeChat.
Tencent’s WeChat started its international expansion in 2013 and has taken the region by storm, according to latest reports published in the SCMP saying the app has seen a 97% usage growth boom. Why? Its versatility.
Renowned in China, mainland users counted more than 762 million in the first quarter of 2016, over 60% of whom use the WeChat Wallet to make payments with their phones.
Fifty-eight per cent of Hongkongers have a WeChat account, at least 60% of them being glued to WeChat daily.
While Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia have also reported extreme growth, Australia is topping the leader board with an astounding 284% growth, according to GlobalWebIndex.
“We were impressed, but not surprised, by WeChat’s impressive growth across APAC,” said Jason Mander, chief research officer at GlobalWebIndex. “The versatility of the service ... makes WeChat a popular choice in many diverse markets.”
In Asia-Pacific (excluding China) fans of the app are the millennial generation, being younger than 34, shopping online and spending 3.5 hours on average of their time online daily.