Viber's announcement that it will close down its representative officein Vietnam next month has raised the question of the competitivecapacity of foreign and domestic over-the-top (OTT) services in thecountry.
Viber opened its representative office in Vietnam in January 2014 in competition with Line, Kakao Talk and Zalo.
The race shifted to Viber and Zalo since the entry of Viber to theVietnamese market. It is estimated that there are over 30 million Zalousers and 23 million Viber users.
The fall of foreign OTTservices in local markets is not surprising as a recent report by GlobalWebIndex showed that in Asia, local OTT apps had taken the advantage indomestic markets against OTT services from Europe or America.
For example, the two leading OTT apps in the world, WhatApps andFacebook Messenger, are fading away in the Asia-Pacific region.
Line has the fastest growth rate in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, Kakaoleads the Korean market and Wechat is number one in mainland China.
The Japan-based Asia Plus Inc's survey of 500 people on what textingapplications were used the most frequently revealed in September in HCMCity showed that 87 percent of the respondents used Facebook Messenger,followed by Zalo (61 percent) and Yahoo! Messenger (56 percent).
The survey also showed that Yahoo! Messenger was popular among peopleaged over 30, while Zalo was popular among teenagers.
NguyenDang Quynh Anh, Viber's Country Manager in Vietnam, said the move ispart of the company's changing strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.
Viber Media Co will establish its headquarters for the Asia-Pacificregion in the Philippines. The headquarters will manage marketingactivities the Southeast Asian region including Vietnam, Indonesia,Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Thailand and Myanmar.
Whenasked why the office in Vietnam was being closed down, she said: "Wehave fulfilled our mission of creating a foundation for Viber in theVietnamese OTT market. The OTT market is a multinational platform thatconnects people in different countries, not just those in onenation."-VNA
Viber opened its representative office in Vietnam in January 2014 in competition with Line, Kakao Talk and Zalo.
The race shifted to Viber and Zalo since the entry of Viber to theVietnamese market. It is estimated that there are over 30 million Zalousers and 23 million Viber users.
The fall of foreign OTTservices in local markets is not surprising as a recent report by GlobalWebIndex showed that in Asia, local OTT apps had taken the advantage indomestic markets against OTT services from Europe or America.
For example, the two leading OTT apps in the world, WhatApps andFacebook Messenger, are fading away in the Asia-Pacific region.
Line has the fastest growth rate in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, Kakaoleads the Korean market and Wechat is number one in mainland China.
The Japan-based Asia Plus Inc's survey of 500 people on what textingapplications were used the most frequently revealed in September in HCMCity showed that 87 percent of the respondents used Facebook Messenger,followed by Zalo (61 percent) and Yahoo! Messenger (56 percent).
The survey also showed that Yahoo! Messenger was popular among peopleaged over 30, while Zalo was popular among teenagers.
NguyenDang Quynh Anh, Viber's Country Manager in Vietnam, said the move ispart of the company's changing strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.
Viber Media Co will establish its headquarters for the Asia-Pacificregion in the Philippines. The headquarters will manage marketingactivities the Southeast Asian region including Vietnam, Indonesia,Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Thailand and Myanmar.
Whenasked why the office in Vietnam was being closed down, she said: "Wehave fulfilled our mission of creating a foundation for Viber in theVietnamese OTT market. The OTT market is a multinational platform thatconnects people in different countries, not just those in onenation."-VNA
