[liberationtech] Thoughts on expansion of WeChat in the U.S.?

[Nathan of Guardian]

On 02/25/2013 10:26 PM, Han, Shelly wrote:
> WeiChat begun its overseas expansion last year, when Line, the Japanese messaging service came to China, home of its biggest rival.

When you buy a generic Android phone in Asia right now, often it comes
pre-installed with WhatsApp, Line and WeChat. If it is a Samsung, it
will have perhaps Kakao and their own chat app, as well.

There is definitely an interesting showdown right now, between various
apps representing global spheres of interest - it goes beyond just a
startup-vs-startup mentality for sure.

> The second-most popular area for WeChat outside China is India, said the Value 2020.

This is truly amazing, if you add on to the fact many of the smartphones
in India are made by Huawei, ZTE and other barely rebranded Chinese
vendors. China owns India from a telecommunications perspective, at this
point in time, more than Nokia ever did, IMO.

+n