4 ms·

Facebook seems to slowly be building out the feature set that WeChat (https://a16z.com/2015/08/06/wechat-china-mobile-first/ https://a16z.com/2015/08/06/wechat-

by malanj 10y ago

Facebook seems to slowly be building out the feature set that WeChat (https://a16z.com/2015/08/06/wechat-china-mobile-first/ https://a16z.com/2015/08/06/wechat-china-mobile-first/ ) has had for ages. It seems like Facebook first set out to capture the whole market, and are now slowly monetizing it fully. WeChat has achieved incredible ARPU (>$7/user/year) through a combination of chat APIs, 3rd party bots and integrated payments Facebook. If Facebook can achieve a similar number, it would greatly increase their worldwide ARPU. (http://www.statista.com/statistics/251328/facebooks-average-revenue-per-user-by-region/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/251328/facebooks-average-...).

pbreit 10y ago
The ARPU # is mis-leading. According to the Economist article, 85% of the revs are from gaming, not "to hail a taxi, order food delivery, buy movie tickets, play casual games, check in for a flight, send money to friends, access fitness tracker data, book a doctor appointment, get banking statements, pay the water bill, find geo-targeted coupons, recognize music, search for a book at the local library, meet strangers around you, follow celebrity news, read magazine articles, and even donate to charity."
- yomly 10y ago
  I asked a Uber driver in China why he thought DiDiKuaiChe (local competitor) was more popular, and he said "because you can order one through WeChat... And everyone has WeChat" Of those services, gaming is probably the most mature which is why it generates the most revenue, but give it a few years and I'm sure more of those will become far more significant..
- yomly 10y ago
  I asked a Uber driver in China why he thought DiDiKuaiChe (local competitor) was more popular, and he said "because you can order one through WeChat... And everyone has WeChat" Of those services, gaming is probably the most mature which is why it generates the most revenue, but give it a few years and I'm sure more of those will become far more significant..
vinceyuan 10y ago
You are right. WeChat has had voice message, video call, group chat, stickers, sending money for years. I use WeChat frequently but seldom use fb messenger. (I am in Hong Kong.)

by malanj 10y ago

pbreit 10y ago

The ARPU # is mis-leading. According to the Economist article, 85% of the revs are from gaming, not "to hail a taxi, order food delivery, buy movie tickets, play casual games, check in for a flight, send money to friends, access fitness tracker data, book a doctor appointment, get banking statements, pay the water bill, find geo-targeted coupons, recognize music, search for a book at the local library, meet strangers around you, follow celebrity news, read magazine articles, and even donate to charity."

yomly 10y ago
I asked a Uber driver in China why he thought DiDiKuaiChe (local competitor) was more popular, and he said "because you can order one through WeChat... And everyone has WeChat" Of those services, gaming is probably the most mature which is why it generates the most revenue, but give it a few years and I'm sure more of those will become far more significant..
yomly 10y ago
I asked a Uber driver in China why he thought DiDiKuaiChe (local competitor) was more popular, and he said "because you can order one through WeChat... And everyone has WeChat" Of those services, gaming is probably the most mature which is why it generates the most revenue, but give it a few years and I'm sure more of those will become far more significant..

vinceyuan 10y ago

You are right. WeChat has had voice message, video call, group chat, stickers, sending money for years. I use WeChat frequently but seldom use fb messenger. (I am in Hong Kong.)