India helps power Nimbuzz messenger to 150 mn global users

The fact that Indians love messenger services is no secret. From SMS to BBM to WhatsApp, they use it all. And the case of Nimbuzz is no different.

The messaging service which allows users to integrate and monitor social media networks like Facebook, Yahoo and Google Talk into one hub as well as make free calls, has crossed 150 million users, with 25 percent of that number coming from India, the company said in a statement.

The popularity of the app was recently underscored by ratings firm Nielsen which ranked the Nimbuzz mobile app fourth most popular in India, behind only WhatsApp, Facebook and the Google Play store. This puts it ahead of giant brands such as Gmail, YouTube and Facebook Messenger in terms of mobile app popularity.

An infographic released by the company revealed that India and saudi Arabia were its top two countries in terms of user base and had grown from 100 million users to 150 million users in the space of just one year.

It added that most of its users came via the Android OS, with as many as 24 percent of its users coming from ’new’ platforms like Android, iOS and Windows - underscoring its popularity with consumers using newer smartphones.

TechCrunch quoted CEOVikas Saxena as saying, “the appeal of Nimbuzz to users in thesemarkets is that it is as a single platform capable of handling immense amounts of data for little or no cost at all.”