If you’re betting on Chinese messaging app WeChat to be knocked out of the messaging app race anytime soon, you’ll find yourself on the losing end, as WeChat owner Tencent revealed earlier today in its Q2 2015 financial earnings report that WeChat now has 600 million monthly active users (MAUs).
For those of you who are keeping score, that’s quite a big jump from the 549 million monthly actives that Tencent revealed back in May, and way up from a year ago when WeChat had just . It’s also a match for WhatsApp Messenger’s August 2014 user numbers.
As per usual, Tencent didn’t break down the numbers based on geography or demographic.
WeChat’s success has been driven largely by “user engagement in selected overseas markets, especially emerging Asian markets”
Other heavyweights in the industry such as LINE, Viber, and Skype are no doubt looking to match the success of WeChat, which has been driven largely by “user engagement in selected overseas markets, especially emerging Asian markets,” according to Tencent. You can see a lot of this engagement with the launch of a Vogue Italy account as well as the more recent celebration of Singapore’s 50th birthday, each of which provided localized content.
With users of messaging apps skyrocketing over the past three years, it’s clear that WeChat is one of the biggest benefactors.
WeChat is available for most major operating systems.