LetsChat, a messaging app launched by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance in 2021 to compete with WhatsApp and Telegram in Africa, has been shut down after failing to gain traction against WhatsApp’s entrenched popularity on the continent.
Despite attracting over 7 million downloads, mostly from Nigeria, Mali, Angola and Ivory Coast, LetsChat has struggled to retain users, with its monthly active user base steadily declining in recent months. According to Sensor Tower, a market intelligence company, LetsChat’s average monthly users peaked in December 2021 at around 440,000, but had declined by around 33.4% between December 2023 and February 2024, reaching just 83,412 users.
ByteDance’s efforts to promote LetsChat in Africa have been extensive, including hiring local staff in Nigeria, recruiting social media influencers, visiting schools to encourage student adoption, and offering prize money and ambassador programs. However, these efforts were not enough to overcome the dominance of WhatsApp, which had 500 times more monthly active users in Nigeria than LetsChat by February 2024.
In a statement on its website, ByteDance announced that LetsChat would cease operations on March 23, 2024, citing a strategic decision to focus resources on more promising ventures. The company recognized that LetsChat was a valuable communication tool, but deemed it necessary to change priorities.
Experts believe that LetsChat’s failure was inevitable given the entrenched position of WhatsApp and other established messaging platforms in Africa. Benjamin Dada, a Nigerian technology analyst, noted that major players like Meta (formerly Facebook) had already adapted their solutions to the African market, making it difficult for a newcomer like LetsChat to offer a significantly better low-data solution.
While ByteDance’s foray into the African messaging market ended in disappointment, the experience underscores the challenges new entrants face in trying to upend dominant players in established markets, particularly when those incumbents have already invested heavily in localization and user adoption.
In 2020, citing privacy and security concerns following a border conflict with China, the Indian government ban TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps across the country. And earlier this month, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that could force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban from US app stores.
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