WeChat!

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Howdy folks!

OK so many of us are familiar with Whatsapp, most of us are familiar with Facebook, and all of us are familiar with Amazon.

But what if there is one company which can combine all three?

Enter: WeChat

You’ve probably heard of them already, but if you haven’t – I thought it best to write up a quick post on an app which is revolutionizing mobile platforms.

WeChat

When a company’s scale and market penetration is so gigantic that it’s described as “an ecosystem”, and the “only operating system for your life”, you should probably take note.

WeChat is one such company (owned by HK listed Tencent Holdings).

What is it?

WeChat allows the individual functionalities of multiple apps, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, PayPal, Amazon and MORE – to be consolidated, all in one place.

From instant messaging, to social media. From online shopping to online banking, WeChat’s got you covered.

Background

Of course, WeChat is so big because of its user base, which is mainly from China. Although it is THE platform that the Chinese use.

However its success, is in part driven by the huge rural population – who do not have access to the same convenience that city metro living provides.

In the regional provinces, online payments, email, and social media, was never entrenched in society like in the USA or Europe.

WeChat started in 2011, and by the end of 2017 – almost half of China’s rural community were connected and fluent in the mobile functionalities WeChat provided.

The Numbers (as of 2018)

Are staggering…

• 1.08 billion users daily
• 806 million monthly users for WeChat Pay
• 25 countries with WeChat Pay participating merchants
• 410 million connected calls every day
• 68 million videos posted every day
• 50 million active senior users
• 45 billion messages sent every day
• 6.1 billion voice messages sent every day 

How did it become huge?

The key methinks, is that offshore competitors such as Google, Facebook, Youtube etc. are banned in China.

This left a significant vacuum for a population crying out for mobile communication and e-commerce apps.

Even still, the sheer success of WeChat is unprecedented.

The Future

Would be pretty bright I’d imagine.

I mean it’s gone to the stage where WeChat has it’s own mini-programs, kinda like the apps on Apple, except it’d be apps within an app, mayhaps I like schnapps?

There’s about 1 MILLION of these apps within WeChat, which really have your entire life covered.

Oh, and who said you cant teach an old dog new tricks; the fastest growing user demographic – is the over 55 year olds.

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Now you might not have anything to do with China, and have no reason to download WeChat.

But sometimes, it’s important to pause to reflect on how much our lives have changed with technology.

For better or worse.

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