Telegram, the instant messaging service that rose in prominence in the wake of WhatsApp's privacy policy controversy, has now been downloaded more than a billion times worldwide.
Speaking with Techcrunch, mobile insight firm Sensor Tower told the publication that the major market for the app was India similar to its largest competitor, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
India represents nearly 22 percent of the app's installs said Sensor Tower and is, "followed by Russia and Indonesia, which represent about 10% and 8% of [all installs], respectively. The app’s installs accelerated in 2021, reaching about 214.7 million installs in the first half of 2021, up 61% year-over-year from 133 million in H1 2020,” it added.
Telegram is now on a prestigious list of fifteen apps that have been downloaded over a billion times globally. According to Sensor Tower, other apps on the list include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, Spotify, and Netflix among others.
Telegram announced plans to launch pay-for-services this year as it managed to attract nearly 500 million active users by late last year.
Pavel Durov, founder of the company said, "Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year. We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users."
Durov and his brother Nikolai started the company in 2013 and have paid for most of the expenses so far from their personal savings. He stated that the app's free features will remain free but additional paid services will be introduced to the app as the growing company needed, "at least a few hundred million dollars per year".
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