Number of Facebook Users Crosses 100M in India [Report]

The number of Facebook users crossed 100M in India as announced yesterday by Javier Olivan to Economic Times.

The numbers are second only to US which still tops the table at 184M. India number though nudged Brazil to third position with about 80M users. This increase is quite significant as it moved from just 8M users in 2010 to 100M by Mar’2014.

While Facebook still dominates as a leading social network with nearly 1184M users worldwide, it would be heartening to Indian users to note that they contribute to nearly 10%  of Facebook user base.

Statistic: Leading social networks worldwide as of January 2014, ranked by number of active users (in millions) | Statista
Find more statistics at Statista

In one of the earlier study in US, it was found that much of the Facebook users access it using their mobile devices.

Facebook Users On Mobile

And Facebook found the same success here in India and the said rise in Facebook users in India is being attributed mainly to improved reach of mobile internet and few partnerships with Indian telecom companies like Airtel & Aircel where Facebook could be access free.

So it’s pretty clear that Facebook is following the mobile-first approach, given the success it has found using those strategies. The recent Facebook UX update could be seen inline with the same strategies.

According to Javier, the next target for Facebook is to achieve 1 billion users in India and thus surpassing the US reach. And that will be driven mainly by –

1. Partnerships with telcos, tech and handset companies

2. Provide free basic internet facilities to mobile users

3. Custom UX for low-end mobile phones

What this means to brands?

Increased Facebook Users and Brands

With all the recent news of diminishing reach of Facebook posts this news will bring a big smile to brands.

Increased number of users can help them reach a wider audience, but does that really mean big dollars for Facebook?

May be not. Because if we compare the advertising ARPU, in Asia it’s stands at $0.57 against the global ARPU of $1.15. Which means, Facebook has a long way to go, but it has the momentum now.

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