It’s no secret that, with 500 million users, WhatsApp is the king of the vast and growing messaging hill right now, but Snapchat could indeed rival WhatsApp, at least among teenagers, according to the latest data from GlobalWebIndex.
Across GlobalWebIndex’s 32 markets, WhatsApp is the clear leader; a quarter of the mobile internet audience aged 16-64 are now using it, and the app continues to post quarter-on-quarter growth. Snapchat is also climbing, but from a much smaller base and at a slower rate; by Q2 2014, Snapchat’s global audience was just a fifth of WhatsApp’s.
Usage among teens has rose to 13 percent, and teens are now 2.5 times more likely than average to use the photo messaging application. By comparison, users aged 16-19 are slightly less likely than users of other ages to be on WhatsApp Messenger. Still, WhatsApp claims twice as many teens as Snapchat, but seeing this growth, one can’t help but wonder how long WhatsApp’s reign at the top will last.
One advantage WhatsApp does have is wider compatibility. WhatsApp is available on virtually every mobile platform, while Snapchat is notably absent from Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10, save for 3rd party alternatives like 6snap for Windows Phone and Snapper for Windows.