WeChat overtakes Facebook in Indonesian market

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-01-29

The WeChat logo. (Photo/CFP)

Chinese smartphone messaging app WeChat has become one of the four major instant messaging tools widely used in Indonesia, reports Shanghai's China Business News, citing Andi Ardiansyah, an Indonesian representative based in Guangzhou.

As of the third quarter of 2013, the number of active users of the Chinese and global version of WeChat touched 271.9 million, surging by 124%. Internet giant Tencent, which developed the popular app, said the growth has been aided by strengthening international marketing campaigns.

Ardiansyah stated that many Indonesian entrepreneurs like using WeChat for its reliability. The growing proximity between China and Indonesia's political and business circles has also helped boost its popularity.

"I use WeChat because many of my Chinese friends use it," said Ardiansyah.

In addition to forging closer ties between the two countries, Tencent has been operating in the Southeast Asian country and has entered a joint venture with MNC, a subsidiary of Indonesia's largest media group PT Global Mediacom, which has sped up the expansion of WeChat in the social media market.

MNC said it was mainly broadcasting advertisements or hosting events to promote the app.

Before WeChat entered the Indonesian market, Facebook was the largest social media network in the country. WeChat now has an edge given the flourishing development of mobile internet in Indonesia.

Market observers said that an outstanding marketing strategy was the key to WeChat's success in the country as the app has captured considerable market share in a short period of time through advertising.

In addition to MNC, WeChat broadcasts different television advertisements in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico by cooperating with local tech or media firms. WeChat also collaborated with Google to promote its services in the United States last week, the paper said. WeChat faces a number of obstacles in the mature European and US market, however.

Ma Huateng or Pony Ma, founder and CEO of Tencent, is now placing great emphasis on the internationalization of WeChat. He said China used to copy the models adopted by the US market in the internet arena but the mobile internet's development has been faster in China compared to Western countries, which presents Chinese firms with a rare opportunity.