WeChat Now Has 190 Million Active Users, Close to Passing Whatsapp

Tencent’s (HKG:0700) deputy general manager Hou Xiaonan has revealed that the company’s social messaging app WeChat now has 190 million monthly active users. That’s from a total registered user-base of over 300 million – indeed, it’s anticipated to exceed 400 million later this month (see the growth graph below).

With 190 million monthly active users on WeChat, that means the fast-growing app is poised to pass Whatsapp, which has 200 million monthly actives in new data revealed in April.

But Whatsapp enjoys far more international success. Tencent recently revealed that WeChat has 40 million users overseas, meaning that its reach beyond China is far smaller than Whatsapp’s – and behind Japan-made Line app as well.

Hou Xiaonan’s number, spotted by Marbridge Daily, was revealed yesterday at the final day of the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Beijing. The day before that, we saw Tencent CEO Ma Huateng explaining some of the company’s strategies and visions for more mobile success.

This is part of our coverage of GMIC 2013 in Beijing, which was on May 7 and 8. For other stories from this event, click here.