Samsung’s ChatOn service to shut down in 2015

19 Dec 2014

Samsung Electronics is shutting down its ChatOn service with the tech giant blaming ‘changing market conditions’ for the app’s failure.

ChatOn was launched in 2011 and rivaled popular instant messengers like WhatsApp and Viber, allowing users to share text, pictures, calendars, contacts and animated messages.

But despite the huge advantage of being pre-loaded on many Samsung devices, the app never really found an audience.

“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,” Samsung told EnGadget in a statement.

“We remain committed to offering services that cater to our consumers’ lifestyles and add value to their everyday lives.”

ChatOn will cease working on 1 February in all markets bar the US, where it will shut down at some point before the end of March.

In April, a report revealed that US users spent just six seconds per month on the app, compared 11 hours on Facebook.

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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