South Africa's Mxit develops app for mobile chat

South Africa-based mobile social network specialist Mxit made its India debut by launching a mobile instant messenger application here today. The company also plans to develop a mobile application facilitating seamless chat service for cricket fans and citizens to share views on various social issues.

"Mxit sees good response for such services, particularly among the age group of 18-25, which has a good appetite to express views on social issues and their eradication among others,” said Sam Rufus Nallaraj, CEO of Mxit India.

In India, it is betting on the feature phone users, numbering 550 million phones, and also the growing smartphone user base.

Depending on the response, it would launch the application in other Tier II cities of Andhra Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, he said.

The app can be downloaded for free using an Internet-enabled low-end handset as well as a smartphone. It is available on Java, Nokia, iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows phone operating systems.

As against a traditional SMS offering 140 characters, it allows more than 300 characters besides access to mobile education, healthcare and community applications, Mxit said. Currently, available in English and Hindi, it is working towards offering 10 Indian languages within the next six months.

The company expects to achieve business break-even in India in the next five years.