Indian Deregulation Opens Door for Messaging App Nimbuzz To Become A Telco
While most messaging app developers are chasing each others’ fluffy white tails further and further down the rabbit hole (I’m pretty sure there’s a sticker out there that illustrates this point), India’s Nimbuzz is heading in another direction: to join the ranks of the mobile operators.
Nimbuzz has made over the user interface of its Android app (which currently looks like an orange-skinned “WhatsApp”), including the promotion of its “calling” and “meet new friends” functions to the home screen. CEO Vikas Saxena said the move was primarily driven by the calls being initiated by one in three users — 40 percent of which log-in via wifi, as opposed to India’s crowded and unreliable mobile networks.
The cosmetic change is curious considering every man and his cat is chasing the sticker opportunity. Facebook recently introduced sticker packs; in the 24 hours after it first started selling stickers, Path’s revenue eclipsed its entire sales to date; last quarter, customers of Japan’s Line appbought $27.2 million of stickers; and MessageMe, attempting to assuage the investors that have tipped in $11.9 million to the fledgling company, has also just launched stickers.
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