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| The chatterbox challenge |
| Rajarshi Bhattacharjee / Feb 13, 2012, 00:13 IST |
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 When in India, we know who rules the social networking domain. But if you are among those who prefer real-time chatting on your smart phone or tablet, it’s time to try Nimbuzz. A recent survey by Nielsen Informate panel says that the Nimbuzz Messenger, a free chat and calling app that lets you connect 24x7 on Gtalk, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN etc, enjoys 24 per cent reach in the chat genre in India.
The report points at the growing trend among mobile and tablet users of switching to instant messaging (IM) chat applications for communication needs. While Google has the number one application (app) in terms of reach for five out of top seven genres, Nimbuzz lead the chat genre. It indicates that in the Android smart phone user universe, 24 per cent users opt for Nimbuzz, which is the most for any IM application.
Also the 24 per cent Nimbuzz-user figure does not take into account the users who download Nimbuzz from Android application store, which itself is used by 27 per cent Android smart phone users. This signifies that there are users who are also downloading Nimbuzz from other smart phone app stores. The Nielsen Informate report is based on real-time data usage to understand consumer behaviour and develop product and marketing strategies. The report is based on the data collated for the month of December 2011.
While the report shows Google apps dominate in terms of time spent for streaming video, GPS, email and search, when it comes to social networking and chat applications, users spend a whopping 93 per cent of the time on application other than those of Google. Being the most popular application on Android OS, Nimbuzz enjoys a major chunk of traffic from not only these 93 per cent users, but also from the 7 per cent Google Talk users who might be using the application through Nimbuzz.
In the words of Joby Babu, head, operations, Nimbuzz, the survey numbers assume significance for Nimbuzz when viewed in the light of the recent survey by Assocham that shows a gradual preference for chat applications over social network applications.
“The reason for the dominance of Nimbuzz in the chat genre is that it combines the powers of the internet and mobile communications in one platform, and lets you make calls, send messages and share files, on any mobile device, for free. It is everything you need to communicate for free. No matter what device, Nimbuzz most likely supports it,” says Babu.
Babu says Nimbuzz sees BlackBerry messenger as an opportunity because Nimbuzz can be accessed from a BlackBerry just like any other mobile handset. “The BlackBerry messenger is a great application and its growing popularity in the last few years proves that. BlackBerry, along with players like Nimbuzz, has revolutionised the way people, especially the youth, communicates,” he adds.
Where Nimbuzz is different from BlackBerry or other handset specific chat platforms is the freedom it offers. A BlackBerry identity ceases to exist the day one switches on another handset. Nimbuzz, on the other hand, allows one to navigate from Android to iOS (formerly iPhone OS, Apple Inc’s mobile operating system) to the PC without losing access to one’s Nimbuzz community.
According to Subho Ray, president, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), people’s initiation to mobile internet is so far primarily through social networking; the popularity of smart applications is going to integrate self expression, chat, social networking and voice-applications. “Internet-based chat is either browser-based or mobile and desktop application services that are becoming popular with the popularity of smart phones and the increasing internet penetration in India. More and more people are getting initiated to such data-based activities following their introduction to social networking. Chat applications, the biggest platform for self-expression, can be used for many other things. So, on a smart phone, if you are logged in to your browser or chat application, you can do a lot of networking and chatting at the same time,” says Ray.
Globally, Nimbuzz has a total user base of more than 80 million and it receives an average of 1,50,000 new registrations per day. It is currently used in more than 200 countries worldwide. Having roughly one-fourth of its users from India, thanks to the increasing penetration of smart phones and feature phones in the region, South Asia is now a major focus area for Nimbuzz.
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