Chat app messaging overtakes SMS texts, Informa says

Instant messaging on chat apps, such
as WhatsApp, has overtaken the
traditional SMS text message for the
first time, according to research firm
Informa.
Informa said almost 19 billion messages
were sent per day on chat apps in 2012,
compared with 17.6 billion SMS texts.
The shift is likely to have a big impact on
mobile operators, for whom texts have
been a key revenue source.
Pamela Clark-Dickson of Informa said
some operators were already "seeing a
decline in their messaging revenues".
According to separate estimates by
research firm Ovum, more than $23bn
(£15bn) of SMS revenue was lost in 2012
due to popularity of chat apps.
'Lot of life'
Informa said that it expected the
messaging on chat apps to grow even
further in the coming years.
It has projected that nearly 50 billion
messages will be sent per day using these
apps by 2014, compared with just over 21
billion traditional SMSs.
However, it said that despite the growing
gap between the two, SMS will continue
to remain a key player in the sector.
"There is a lot of life still in SMS," said Ms
Clark-Dickson of Informa.
She explained that most of the chat apps
were used by consumers who own
smartphones. However, she said, there
are a large number of consumers,
especially in emerging and lesser
developed economies, who use normal
mobile phones and rely on SMS as the
preferred messaging tool.
"They don't have mobile data plans, so
there is an awfully big base of mobile
phone users who are going to still find
that SMS is the best messaging
experience for them for a while," she
added.
At the same time, she said that
businesses were starting to look at SMS
more seriously, as it can be used on all
mobile phones and they do not need
smartphones to use it.
"There are a few things that, I think, will
keep the SMS alive for a few years yet."
Informa expects SMS revenue to grow to
$127bn by 2016, from $115bn last year.