WhatsApp outperforms Facebook as most popular application: report

WhatsApp has outperformed social networking giant Facebook for the first time as the most popular Facebook-owned application in September last year, according to the latest App Annie report.

Hindustan Times cited the report saying that WhatsApp Messenger registered about 30% growth in the last 24 months whereas Facebook and Facebook Messenger registered 20% and 15% growth respectively. Instagram continued to rise in popularity with an impressive 35% growth.

App Annie in The State of Mobile 2019 report pointed out that WhatsApp had acquired mainstream status by taking over telcos’ default SMS services.

“Although their value prop has subsequently expanded, this core offering has resulted in continued success in emerging markets where the cost of using a mobile device is still high relative to average income. While the app has been operated autonomously, it has been owned by Facebook since 2014,” said the report.

WhatsApp has also been named the most used social and communication app globally. The application was the most popular in markets such as India, Brazil, Germany and the UK. WeChat ranked top in China whereas Line was the most popular in Japan.