Research firm Informa says that SMS text message have become outdated, while instant messaging apps like WhatsApp have become more popular. The research firm went on to say that almost 19 billion messages were sent per day on chat apps in the year 2012, as compared to 17.6 billion SMS texts.
The recent shift in the trend is likely to affect mobile operators, for whom the texts have been a key revenue source. Pamela Clark Dickson, from the research firm, said that some mobile operators have already noticed the decline in messaging revenues. Further estimates from the research firm Ovum said that more than $23 bn worth of SMS revenue was lost in the year 2012, as the popularity of chat apps increased.
It is also expected that the popularity of various chat apps might further increase in near future. It has been predicted that about 50 billion messages will be sent per day by the year 2014, as compared to just 21 billion traditional SMSs. Despite the increasing popularity of these messaging apps, SMS is expected to be the key player in the sector, as there is still some life in SMS texts.
Chat apps need to depend on an internet connection at all times, while SMSs can be sent at any time without depending on an internet connection.
