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The last nail hit on the Mxit coffin; the first and once popular SA messenger is shut down

by Milicent Atieno
The last nail hit on the Mxit coffin; the first and once popular SA messenger is shut down

It is hardly surprising; I guess the writing was already on the wall, perhaps for too long. The once popular mobile messaging app, Mxit has officially been shut down. Users can no longer log in or view their previous conversations. Neither can new users sign up for new accounts. Mxit is over, done, dead, and buried.

The first news from Mxit acknowledging its struggle to keep up with the ‘new’ kids on the block, like WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger, Telegram… emerged last year in October. When it announced, it is rechanneling some of its resources to an independent public benefit organization, The Reach Trust.

Mxit donated all its IP and tech assets to the Reach Trust, an organization set out to improve the lives of people via the messenger’s platform. However, the app is still available for download on Play Store; it is probably just a matter of time before they pull it down. The sooner, the better for the company, given there are now users making some pretty nasty reviews of the app there on the Play Store.

Mxit History

The app was launched back in 2005 when feature phone were the ‘thing.’ That was before the WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat and the rest were in existence. Records show that it has been particularly popular within the emerging market, and not just in Africa but across the world.

Over time, the app started offering other services in addition to the message chats. It offered free education, health, and counselling services running parallel to the chat service. However, the rain started beating Mxit when more powerful messengers started rolling into the market.

Apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat utterly obliterated it, each month consistently taking away its users. The app also showed no innovations to maintain its users, as a means of adapting to the competition.

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