Because instant messaging apps are such a rarity these days, Google is planning to launch its own WhatsApp competitor, with the primary audience to be emerging markets starting in India.
In order to assess the feasibility in the markets, Google has sent its top product manager Nikhyl Singhal to India and Asia Pacific. Rumoured to be launched in 2015, the messaging app will be completely free and would not require Google’s notorious login that has kept many users away from its other services and its own Hangouts app.
So why India? Well, considering a seventh of the world population lives there, it’s a huge market to tap into. Along with the Android One initiative to that sees solid yet inexpensive phones running the latest version of the operating system, Google could be on to something big in capturing a massive market that is largely untapped.
Source: The Economic Times
