Mobile apps usage India Q3 2020, by category

As a community-oriented society, it comes as no surprise that chat and social networking apps are widely popular in India. In the third quarter of 2020, about 92 percent of Indians used messenger applications, while 90 percent of users accessed social networking apps. On the other hand, health and fitness apps along with dating and friendship apps had the lowest user share in the country that year.

Facebook’s unparalleled reach in India

The two social media giants, WhatsApp and Facebook had the highest number of users in India compared to the world. At the same time, India ranked second in the world in terms of the number of Instagram users. And even though these are different social media platforms, Facebook owns both WhatsApp as well as Instagram, making it the largest stakeholder in India’s social media economy.

Facebook-Reliance Jio deal

In April 2020, Facebook accounted for over 87 percent in India’s mobile social media market. That same month, Facebook announced an investment of over five billion U.S. dollars for a 99.9 percent stake in Reliance Jio Platforms - India’s biggest telecom operator. This move goes to show that India’s internet market has a tremendous potential, and the world’s biggest social media company is set on making the most of it.