According to statistics from GWI, a market research company specialising in online consumer behaviour, WeChat saw an increase of 55% in its active user base from Q2 2013 to Q2 2014, with significant growth in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).
WeChat, the mobile text and chat service developed by Chinese company, Tencent, is the app of choice among youngsters in APAC, according to GlobalWebIndex (GWI)
According to statistics from GWI, a market research company specialising in online consumer behaviour, WeChat saw an increase of 55% in its active user base from Q2 2013 to Q2 2014, with significant growth in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).
The app’s active user base in APAC (excluding China) has grown by over 60% in the past year. Among Asian markets, Hong Kong (222%), Taiwan (166%) and the Philippines (100%) have experienced the most impressive growth rates.
In China WeChat is a dominant force, where it continues to grow and is now used by an impressive 73% of the online population aged 16-64.
According to GWI head of trends, Jason Mander, the app has the youngest demographic out of all competing social communication applications, with a third of its global active user base aged between 16 to 24-years. In APAC the user base is between 16 and 34 years.
Reasons for the youngster preference for WeChat over other social communications apps are more privacy, quicker to use, fun and free of charge.