Michael Sherman|Published
It’s easy to point out in hindsight, but the reasons why WhatsApp remains the undisputed leader in global messaging while South Africa’s Mxit rests in the tech scrapheap of yesteryear are clear to see.
Long before WhatsApp arrived on the scene in 2009, Mxit was already operating as a global messaging platform, even if its base was predominantly concentrated in South Africa.
Founded in 2003, the platform eventually reached a staggering 50 million users, with some estimates placing that figure closer to 100 million. By 2012, reports from MyBroadband indicated that Mxit was attracting an impressive 35,000 to 50,000 new users every single day.
However, Mxit’s downfall was intrinsically linked to the very foundation of its early success. The app was built for the pre-smartphone era, enabling users to send messages over feature phones with internet capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional SMS text messaging.
Mxit’s Decline: Failure to Adapt in the Face of Competition and Technological Change
At the height of its popularity, Mxit’s primary competition came from BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and an emerging WhatsApp. While BBM would eventually suffer a similar fate, the battle for user dominance back then was fierce.
When modern touch-screen smartphones began flooding the market, Mxit failed to pivot. Rather than redesigning its interface with smartphones in mind, the platform remained stubbornly focused on catering to traditional, aging feature phones.
In an effort to retain interest, Mxit attempted to branch out by introducing extra features such as mobile games and public chat rooms. Unfortunately, this only rendered the interface cluttered, bloated, and clunky.
As a result, millions of users were essentially pushed into the arms of cleaner, streamlined messaging apps that were eager to evolve alongside changing mobile technology.
By 2015, Mxit’s remarkable run officially came to an end as it was forced to shutter its commercial operations. It leaves behind an intriguing question: if Mxit had been willing to adapt and modernise with the times, could it have evolved into a global tech giant on par with WhatsApp today?
Related Topics: