This image shows a service malfunction of KakaoTalk caused by a fire at a building of SK C&C in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, on Oct. 15, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The fire that broke out at a data center last weekend has resulted in a plunging number of KakaoTalk users while other chat applications have seen a major inflow of new users, a mobile app tracker said Tuesday.
WiseApp Retail Goods conducted a survey of smartphone users over 10 years of age in South Korea, in which 39.05 million people used KakaoTalk on Sunday, down by 2.07 million people from Friday, prior to the fire.
In contrast, Line saw its number of users jump by 850,000 people, reaching a total of 1.28 million users on Sunday. Telegram users jumped by 220,000 people, reaching a total of 1.28 million users.
Users of Facebook Messenger jumped by 190,000 people, reaching a total of 1.41 million users.
The number of smartphone users with Line installed on their phones jumped from 2.91 million people on Friday to 3.64 million people on Sunday, up by 720,000 people.
Meanwhile, IGA Works said KakaoTalk users spent a total of 10.41 million hours on the app on Saturday, down by 44.41 percent from the previous day. There were 34.3 million daily active users, down by 1.75 percent.
In contrast, Line users spent a total of 192,000 hours on Saturday, up by 108.28 percent from the previous day. There were 966,000 daily active users, up by 118.34 percent in a single day.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
