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Facebook has launched a stand-alone Snapchat clone designed specifically for emerging markets, Recode reports.
The app, called Flash, lets users share ephemeral photos and videos with masks and filters. It uses less than 25MB of phone space, or about one-third the space that Snapchat’s Android app takes up. Flash launched on Android in Brazil late Tuesday, and Facebook plans to bring the product to other markets.
Facebook is trying to stunt Snapchat’s growth in all directions:
- Making Facebook more camera-centric. The company is making the camera the central aspect of its main platform to discourage users from using Snapchat. This is in line with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s belief that the “text box” will soon give way to the “camera” as the main way users share on social platforms.
- Cutting Snapchat’s global growth short. Facebook is also setting up Snapchat clones where the ephemeral messaging pioneer doesn’t have a strong presence. In addition to Flash, Facebook recently debuted Messenger Day in Poland, and its Instagram Stories feature is flourishing in Russia where Snapchat adoption is low.
There are a few reasons why Facebook’s strategy could work:
- Snapchat has a feebler footprint overseas. Of Snapchat’s 150 million daily active users, 60 million are in the US and Canada, and 50 million are in Europe — this means just one quarter of its users are from the rest of the world. The company is also lagging in Asia. It doesn’t have any offices in the region listed on its website, though it is hiring freelancers in South Korea and Japan.
- Facebook’s global presence is comparatively massive. More than 60% of Facebook’s almost 1.2 billion daily users are outside of North America and Europe, and its user base continues to grow at a rapid pace in these regions. In Q3 2016, daily users climbed 23% year-over-year (YoY) in the Asia-Pacific region, and 22% YoY in all regions outside of Europe and North America.
- Facebook is also primed for success in emerging markets. Internet.org, Facebook's initiative to bring internet access to the two-thirds of the world without internet, has connected 40 million people since launching in August 2013. Efforts like Internet.org help give Facebook an ascendant position in emerging markets, making it more likely to dominate in the platform wars to come.
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