A cold snap: Snow, the South Korean Snapchat clone that’s got China covered
Snapchat may be centre of attention after reports of a US$20 billion IPO, but rival Snow has an advantage in Asia – it’s not banned in China
Popular messaging app Snapchat – which lets users send videos and pictures that are short-lived and self-deleting – will soon be flush with cash after a mammoth initial public offering, but financial muscle alone may not be enough to upend a South Korean clone gaining a foothold in China and elsewhere in Asia.
Snapchat’s parent company, the California-based Snap Inc, sent technology industry circles into a tizzy this week following widespread reports that it had made a secret IPO filing to US regulators for a public float with a valuation of around US$20 billion (HK$155 billion).
Hong Kong’s snap happy users make city Snapchat’s No. 1 market in Asia
The move fires the starting gun for the largest technology firm market debut since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba – the owner of the South China Morning Post – went public in 2014 at a valuation of US$170.9 billion. Companies are allowed to make confidential filings for a US public listing if their annual revenue is less than US$1 billion.
Social media experts say the listing will allow Snapchat to make fresh inroads in the ephemeral social media space where posts are temporary, visual-heavy and largely light-hearted – a far cry from the more sobering, text-heavy content more typical of platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Since launching in 2011, the messaging platform has grown rapidly from being derided as a ‘sexting’ tool for teenagers to an influential social media player. It has 150 million active users, among them US President-elect Donald Trump and his defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Sixty per cent of its users are aged between 13 and 24.