WeChat, the Chinese social media smartphone app, saw an increase in user numbers of 41 per cent year on year to 500m at the end of 2014, in a sign that parent company Tencent is extending its reach for the mobile internet.
Tencent made the announcement on Wednesday, as it reported results that missed analysts’ forecasts. Fourth-quarter net profits were up 51 per cent year on year and net income for the quarter ending December increased to Rmb5.95bn.
Analysts had estimated net income would be Rmb6.26bn, according to a Reuters poll but performance was weighed down by the costs of content deals with the likes of HBO and the US National Basketball Association.