Fighting WeChat: a tough challenge - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

Bullet Messenger profiled itself last week at a competitor of WeChat, and got a lot of interest, certainly from investors. But its mission might be very tough to achieve, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan at PYMNTS. "This is not a WeChat killer."

PYMNTS:

The tailwinds are multiple. For one thing, said the newswire, Bullet Messenger has a “stripped-down” appeal to the masses (more on this later), and in a competitive landscape dominated by the likes of WeChat, those same masses of users are looking for an alternative. 

At the same time, money and consumers chase and lock in on what’s available. According to Matthew Brennan, co-founder of consulting firm China Channel, the disruption is one that comes with speed, and, as he said, “there is an increasingly large amount of easy money chasing increasingly fewer opportunities, while there is also a very large pool of talented entrepreneurs now, so people know how to scale businesses fast – there is an established playbook.”... 

Still, at the moment, though the initial embrace of Bullet may impress, at least some observers state that the competitive landscape is unlikely to tilt anytime soon. WeChat, as Tencent noted in its most recent earnings results, is a bright spot for the company, as monthly active users grew by 10 percent year over year to reach and breach that one billion user milestone. 

Said China Channel’s Brennan, “this is not a WeChat killer. Bullet is still tiny and has a lot to prove,” adding that it is “very, very difficult” to build successful social networks where users actually stay.

More at PYMNTS.

Matthew Brennan is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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