VietNamNet Bridge – Attracting more users, collecting fees from added value services and cooperating with network operators for mutual benefits are the three things enterprises have to do to get an in-grade promotion in the OTT market.

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WeChat falls, Line and Kakao Talks jump to higher grades

The ranking of the “hottest” apps of Apple Store’s Social Network section showed that from January 1, 2013 to April 7, 2013, WeChat always was among the leading chatting and free messaging software apps with the highest numbers of users. From January 1-30, 2013, for example, WeChat ranked the second or third, just to Facebook Messenger or Zalo.

However, since the netizens decided to boycott the Chinese network because of the “cow tongue line” problem. WeChat has seen the number of users decrease sharply, thus falling to the 16th position and getting left behind by Kakao Talk, Line, Viber, Zalo and Facebook Messenger.

After WeChat fell down the grades, the three leading positions in the period from February 2013 to April 2013 have been taken in turns by Zalo, Line and Facebook Messenger, Viber and Kakao Talk.

The Communication Ranking of Google Play also showed the sharp decline of WeChat from the third position to the 13th after January 30, 2013.

The sharp fall of WeChat has given the golden opportunities for Line and Kakao Talk to jump to higher grades. Line, for example, was on the first position on the five consecutive days from February 17 to February 22, while it has been on the fourth position since late March 2013. Kakao Talk has jumped by 8 grades from the 18th on January 30 to the fifth on April 8.

Experts have attributed the grade increase of Kakao talk to the participation of the hot girl Midu and the South Korean famous band Big Bag and the existence of Big Bag, Midu stickers launched by Kakao Talk. Big Bag is believed to play an important role in the in-grade promotion of Kakao talk, especially when it ranks the 5th in the list of the celebrities with most Vietnamese fans.

All race for the Number 1 position in the OTT market

Viber, Zalo, Kakao Talk and Line all have reported the big increases in the number of Vietnamese users. Viber has outstripped others to become the leading OTT service provider with 3.5 million users, which is triple the number of users of the other apps (approximately 1 million).

In February alone, the number of users of Viber soared by 500,000, which it expects to see the number of members to increase to 600,000 in March.

Smart phone users, who were asked in a mini survey, confirmed that Viber now has the highest number of users. Meanwhile, the big mobile network operators in Vietnam have confirmed that Facebook Messenger and Viber have consumed much broadband capacity.

As OTT apps have attracted a high number of users, it’s now the time for them to think about how to collect money from users. WhatsApp charges 1 dollar on the users who want to use the version with no ad pieces. Meanwhile, Line and Kakao Talk make money by selling associated things like stickers or the utilities for games, through the payment portals of Google Play or App Store.

The strong popularity of OTT apps has badly affected the business of mobile network operators. An estimate of MobiFone showed that mobile network operators lose VND1 trillion a year because of the existence of OTT.

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