In the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, the top three apps in the Philippines based on monthly active users are Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Viber. Messaging apps also topped the list for other countries in the region: WhatsApp for Singapore and Malaysia, LINE for Thailand, and BlackBerry Messenger for Indonesia.
Olandres says this boom is partly driven by OFWs and their families as this system offers an easier and cheaper channel of communication.
Viber Southeast Asia director Crystal Lee adds that stickers are an additional feature of these apps that isn’t carried by SMS. For the Philippines alone, they generated 30-40 special stickers. She says the stickers are used “when they don’t have the words to say it.”
This surge, however, may not yet be the death of text messaging as not every Filipino owns a smartphone and Internet is not reliable in many provinces.
“The telcos are able to somehow come up with new services or new bundles to compensate for the loss of revenue coming from calls and SMS,” says Olandres, as both Smart and Globe offer postpaid and prepaid promos with data allocation for messaging apps.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
