Deal activity in the messaging app sector is surging, as are valuations. On top of Facebook's recently announced $19B acquisition of WhatsApp, Rakuten, Japan's largest e-commerce company, has agreed to acquire Israeli messaging service Viber for $900M and Softbank is seeking to buy a stake in Line, the leading mobile messaging service in Japan. Much of the action is focused on Asia, with Line (controlled by Korea's Naver) dominant in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, while Kakao Talk is entrenched in Korea. Meanwhile, Tencent's WeChat, with over 270 million users, is the mobile messaging leader in China. Indonesia is set to be among the countries in which this battle will continue to play out.
Do you wonder how these companies make money? Here's some insight.
Do you wonder how these companies make money? Here's some insight.
