Snap Has Got More New Users Despite Stiff Competition From Facebook And TikTok

It seems that Snap is coming back to the game, drawing new users since its announcement of a fresh version of its AR sunglasses. On Tuesday, Snapchat’s parent company said that there were 210 million active users on its platform every day, compared with the 203 million figure reported in 2019’s second quarter.

Snap was made public in 2017 and has since faced tense competition from other social platforms like Instagram, which successfully copied the most well-known features from Snapchat. For instance, the photo-sharing app introduced Stories, a feature allowing users to send videos and photos that disappear within 24 hours, which is similar to the marquee feature on Snapchat.

This month, Instagram copied another move from Snapchat when it rolled out a camera-first separate app named Thread for users to message their close friends.

All of this made Snap watch out for Facebook’s “hardball tactics.” The social firm came up with Project Voldermort in which it details every activity of Facebook. Reportedly, Snap spoke with the FTC, sharing the material, the Wall Street Journal revealed. Additionally, attorneys from 47 states of the US are also investigating the social giant.

However, according to analysts, Snap doesn’t just have to go against Facebook, TikTok can pose a threat too. Debra Aho Williamson, the Principal Analyst from eMarketer, stated:

Meanwhile, Evan Spiegel, chief executive officer at Snap, said that he thought of Snap as a friend, not a foe because the video app operates as a developer and advertising partner.

On the other hand, Snapchat has been working to attract new users through its new AR features and changing its app for Android users. In August, the social platform introduced Snapchat Spectacles’ third version, the Ar sunglasses are open for preorder and will come out this fall.

Regarding the third quarter, Snap reported revenue of $446 million, higher than the previously projected $434.8 million figure released Thomson Reuters. Also, the firm reported a decrease of 4 cents in price per share, lower than the expectations of a 5-cent loss.

However, in terms of stock, Snap saw a decline in after-hours trading after it gave weak guidance for Q4. There was also a drop os 4 percent on price per share to $13.43 per share for after-hours trading.

According to Snap, Q4 revenue is expected to reach between $540 million and $560 million, lower than the estimated figure of $555.43 million by analysts.