Short message service or short message service ( SMS ) is one of the most popular communication medium that is accessed through mobile phones . Now, along with the rapid growth of smartphone and chat applications , SMS popularity seems to have started to fade .
Informa's global research agency report shows that during the year 2012, the daily average number of messages sent through chat applications already higher than SMS , which is 19 billion messages per day versus 17.6 billion messages per day .
Figures were obtained from the six most popular mobile chat applications , including WhatsApp , BlackBerry Messenger , Viber , Nimbuzz , iMessage , and KakaoTalk .
2014 , Informa estimates the number of messages sent through the chat application will reach 50 billion messages per day , versus 21 billion messages per day are sent via an SMS .
still life
Although already overtaken by chat applications , SMS is predicted to continue to be used until a few years into the future . " There is still a lot of life in the SMS , " said Informa analyst Pamela Clark - Dickson , was quoted as saying by the BBC .
The agency noted the number of texters in 2012 reached 3.5 billion worldwide . In the same year , users reached 583.3 million chat application that is divided into six platforms mentioned earlier .
Chat application user numbers do not include the Facebook Messenger for Android users ( 100-500 million users ) and Ten Cent applications from China ( about 300 million users ) .
Disparity in the number of users is inversely proportional to the average messages sent per user per day . Chat application users sending an average of 32.6 messages per day , while only five users SMS messages per day .
The reason is the price factor involved , where the chat applications in general can be used free of charge , while the charge SMS messaging .
" I think SMS will remain alive for several more years , " said Clark - Dickson . Informa expects revenue from SMS will grow to 127 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 , from 115 billion U.S. dollars recorded last year .
