Just like in the old movie, The Karate Kid, where Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel about the martial arts using the “wax on, wax off” concept, Samsung seems to have decided to ‘ChatOn, ChatOff’ their messaging service. Just last month the Korea Times reported that Samsung would be turning off their ChatOn messaging service with Samsung denying the rumors – but we all know that when it comes to waffling, Samsung serves up more than the Waffle House on a Sunday morning. Now they are saying that their ChatOn messaging service will be turned off on February 1, 2015, except for the U.S., due to some contractual obligations. The official statement goes like this: “On February 1, 2015, ChatON will be discontinued in all markets except the United States, as we strive to meet evolving consumer needs by focusing on our core services. We remain committed to offering services that cater to our consumers’ lifestyles and add value to their everyday lives.”
Instant messaging services became popular when customers were being charged for individual text messages or had a limited number on their plan – with private chat or messaging services, there were no charges. The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was probably the most popular messaging service as BlackBerry was the smartphone to have due to its secure nature and use in the business sector. However, once the teenagers got a hold of this concept, it really took off – free chatting or texting with their friends…it was a sure winner. But just like what Apple does, BBM was a proprietary service that only works among BlackBerry owners and as more and more people turned to Android, the users turned to other offerings, such as WhatsApp – where there were more than 64 BILLION messages sent last New Year’s Eve.
Samsung launched ChatOn in 2011 in a failed attempt to duplicate BBM’s success, but even BlackBerry could not duplicate their own success. By the time BBM was made available to iOS and Android users, people had moved on to what their friends were already using. Facebook is the only one to take a slice of the messaging ‘pie’ when they forced users to download their messaging app to chat with friends on FaceBook – instantly guaranteeing them more than 500 million users.
Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know what your favorite way is to electronically communicate with your friends…do you just text now that it is unlimited on most every plan or do you still use a separate messaging service…as always, we would love to hear from you.