Sinica

Sinica

Share this post

Sinica
Sinica
ByteDance Shuts Down Free African Messaging App That Failed to Challenge WhatsApp
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
China-Global South

ByteDance Shuts Down Free African Messaging App That Failed to Challenge WhatsApp

LetsChat came late to Africa’s instant messaging party and failed to differentiate itself from its much larger competitors.

China-Global South Project's avatar
China-Global South Project
Mar 30, 2024
∙ Paid

Share this post

Sinica
Sinica
ByteDance Shuts Down Free African Messaging App That Failed to Challenge WhatsApp
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Image via @LetsChatWorld.

Chinese tech firm ByteDance shut down its three-year-old multimedia messaging app LetsChat earlier this month, a rare defeat for the social media giant that hoped the platform would take off among Africa’s ballooning youth population.

In contrast to TikTok, ByteDance’s short video and entertainment app, which is very popular in Africa, most people might not even know that LetsChat even existed: The app also never came close to competing with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for Africa’s instant messaging market. 

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Sinica to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 The Sinica Podcast
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More