Chat apps are cutting into the profits of China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers, which blamed the first drop in profits in 14 years on competition from the likes of Tencent’s WeChat messenger.
The mobile operator also cited the subsidies it provides for Apple’s iPhones – which it began selling on its network for the first time in January – as a factor for its lower earnings. Net profit in 2013 fell 5.9 per cent to Rmb121.8bn ($19.5bn), the first time it has dropped since 1999.
The rise of free chat apps is a problem for mobile operators globally, given that the industry earned $120bn in revenues from SMS texting last year.
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