I see new statistics popping up all the time. It is one of the ways research firms get visibility. However, I’m often skeptical about the sample, the purpose, and what it actually means. A ranking on “used once in the last month” isn’t really helpful by mobile standards. Is it used daily or 2-3 times a week? Then that is helpful. I also have a real problem with the definition. When is “mail” or “safari” or “chrome” not an app on a smartphone? Is Google+ in this chart really Gmail on Android? What about iMessage, FaceTime or AppleMaps? Of course the “Camera” probably beats all of these. The point of the chart is to try and make “WeChat” big and it is certainly BIG and important. Still this chart isn’t going to help you or your company create a better mobile strategy. I’m sure Google Maps tops this list because of the number of times it is opened by some other app.
“The China-made smartphone app WeChat is now the fifth-most-used program in the world, according to new rankings published by GlobalWebIndex. WeChat is apparently installed on some 27% of the world’s smartphones, which makes it more popular than western favorites Skype (22%), Twitter (22%), and Instagram (11%). Google Maps reigns supreme, installed on 54% of all phones, with Facebook floating a bit behind at 44%. Nevertheless, it is surprising to see WeChat, which is typically considered a “Chinese” program, beating out heavy hitters like Facebook Messenger (22%). In the past few months, WeChat has boomed to hit 70 million users outside of China, in addition to its 300+ million within the country.”
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