Other Chinese Internet companies including Alibaba and Baidu and phone carrier China Mobile Ltd. Tencent, which makes most of its revenue from games, said WeChat had 272 million active users last year, with more than 100 million of them abroad. Access from a desktop computer is a feature that more mobile messenger apps are offering as they want users to stick with their service as they shift between devices.Ĭhina’s dominant mobile messaging app is WeChat, launched in 2011 by Tencent Holdings Ltd., one of China’s leading Internet companies. Viber users can make video calls and exchange photos and messages between mobile devices and desktop computers. Rakuten founder Hiroshi Mikitani sees Viber as a potential platform for games and other content. said last week it will buy Viber for $900 million as the retail giant is eager to expand outside Japan.

LINE raked in revenue of $423 million in 2013.Ĭreated by Cyprus-based Viber Media, Viber offers its core Internet phone call function for free to its 280 million global users. Some also comes from sticker sales which cost about $1 for a dozen. Most of the app’s revenue comes from mobile games. Its money making prowess makes it a rarity among messaging apps. In less than three years, LINE has become a cash cow for Naver, which operates South Korea’s most visited Web portal but is little known outside of East Asia.

Viber messenger revenue