2013: A chatty year for Indian smartphone users

WhatsApp leads the category with 76% using it

• Year 2013 has been a chatty year for Indian mobile users. Three of every four smartphone user subscribes to a chat application (app). In terms of usage, 90 per cent of smartphone users use some chat app, said a study.
   
• According to Informate Mobile Intelligence report on SmartPhone usage in 2013, chat as a category witnessed tremendous upswing, reporting a 60 per cent growth compared to last year.
   
• The report says that chat is now integral to smartphone usage and age seems no barrier for being a user of it. Popular chat app, WhatsApp, continued to rule the chart with 76 per cent of users subscribing to it. “2013 saw a number of chat app brands being introduced including WeChat, Line and even the BlackBerry messenger for Android – many of these with additional features of voice chat, stickers etc.
  
  Data shows the new players still have a long way to go. The early-mover advantage seems to have worked for WhatsApp and it leads the category both on penetration and engagement," said the report.
   
• Google seems to be as relevant on the handset as it is on the PC. Six of the top 10 applicaitons used by smartphone users today are Google brands.
  
  Google Play, Google Search and Gmail were the top three application on smartphone after WhatsApp.