After just a few weeks, WeChat’s new challenger is fading away

Logos of Bullet Messenger and WeChat (left to right)

WeChat’s bold new rival, which shot to the top of the App Store shortly after launching, is now struggling.

Bullet hit the number one spot on August 24. However, the app is this week seeing a precipitous drop, plummeting from first place to 72nd overall in China’s iOS App Store on September 6, according to App Annie data. It’s the worst ranking since its launch.

Screenshot from App Annie

Bullet’s investor has taken note. Smartisan CEO Luo Yonghao acknowledged the slowdown and vowed to spend US$146 million on grabbing 100 million users in the next six months, he wrote yesterday on his Weibo. To date, seven million users have “activated” the app, according to Luo, but the number of actual active users is not revealed.

Luo added that Bullet will embark on a hiring spree to wrap up developing core functions. He explained Bullet never planned on replacing WeChat – instead it aims to offer an alternative chat tool for people who value efficient communication. The app, however, has been lambasted for numerous shortcomings, including lax security settings and allowing racy content to run rampant.

The app has a 2.9-star rating on China’s iOS app store, with 1-star ratings outnumbering all the others.

Screenshot from Apple’s app store

Bullet has received US$22 million in investment to date, far from the US​$146 million it aims to spend on luring in new users.

WeChat rules

China’s social media landscape has been dominated for much of this decade by Tencent’s WeChat, which has swollen from a simple messenger into a one-stop app for daily tasks.

Other newcomers have tried and failed to topple WeChat.

Alibaba’s high-profile attempt in 2013 came to nought, despite vocal backing from Jack Ma, who went so far as to shut down his own WeChat account.