Last month a Korea Time report said that Samsung is planning to shut down its ChatOn messaging service. Soon after that Samsung denied saying that those were just rumors. Today Samsung has confirmed that it will shut down its ChatOn services in all markets except for the US in February 2015.
In an official statement, Samsung said:
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. We remain committed to offering services that cater to our consumers’ lifestyles and add value to their everyday lives.
Users would be able to back up their data before the shutdown. ChatOn was first launched in 2011 and is said to be used in 120 countries. Even though it comes pre-installed on Samsung devices it is not being used by every Samsung smartphone user since there are a lot of alternatives. ChatOn has only 50 million monthly active users (MAUs), which is very low compared to its competitors such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber and WeChat.