ByteDance, the parent company of popular app TikTok, has officially shut down instant messaging platform LetsChat. The announcement was made on the company’s website, and operations came to an end on Saturday, March 23, 2024. LetsChat, which at one point was seen as a potential rival for app giants WhatsApp and Telegram in the African market, was already removed from various app stores on February 26, 2024.
According to the announcement, LetsChat users who remained logged in would no longer be able to access their accounts. Moreover, the company has stopped all reward tasks associated with the app, and plans to distribute any earned rewards as credit. LetsChat users were advised to pay close attention to their wallet balance and carry out any necessary withdrawals by February 26, 2024.
Before the decision to close down LetsChat, ByteDance had spent around three years investing in the app’s development and growth in Africa, including the recruitment of local staff in Nigeria for full-time and contract roles.
The closure of LetsChat in Nigeria was part of a strategic plan to concentrate resources on the company’s other projects that hold more potential, a ByteDance representative explained in an email to Rest of World. The decision to shut down LetsChat was made after a thorough evaluation of ByteDance’s business objectives, the spokesperson reassured.
The messaging platform was initially launched by ByteDance in March 2021, with the objective of providing the youth in Africa with a data-efficient messaging service. The app encompassed various features such as text messaging, complimentary voice and video call capabilities, and integrated gaming options within the app.
To boost its popularity and outreach, ByteDance enlisted the help of well-known Nigerian social media influencers such as Adebowale Adedayo (Mr Macaroni), Chukwuebuka Amuzie (Brain Jotter), and Chinonso Egemba (Aproko Doctor).
In 2022, the LetsChat team made rounds at various Nigerian educational institutions in an attempt to persuade students to use the app. However, despite these vigorous efforts, the app wasn’t able to sustain itself and ultimately went out of business.
At the point of its shutdown, LetsChat had accumulated nearly 7 million downloads, with the majority of these originating from countries such as Nigeria, Mali, Angola, and Côte d’Ivoire.
In the face of increasing difficulties to retain user engagement, LetsChat began to see a plateau in monthly users around December 2021, with approximately 440,000, as per data from Sensor Tower. The app also experienced a 30% year-on-year decline in downloads in 2022.
SimilarWeb provided further details, with monthly user numbers plunging from 125,150 to 83,412 between December 2023 and February 2024. In stark comparison, WhatsApp was able to maintain a robust monthly active subscriber base in Africa, with 146 million active monthly users.
