Snapchat Users to Decline in 2019, Stabilize in 2020: eMarketer
Social video platform Snapchat is still paying for its unpopular redesign, say the researchers at eMarketer. Even though the confusing redesign—which mixed Stories and chats together—was widely available early in 2018 and was scaled back a few months later, Snapchat is still suffering with declining use. eMarketer forecasts the platform will lose users in the U.S. for the first time this year, dropping by 2.8% to 77.5 million monthly users.
Snapchat's long-term prospects don't look much better. While the platform will stabilize in 2020 with a minor 0.4% growth, eMarketer sees its user base as flat for the next few years. In fact, it will only add 600,000 users in the U.S. by 2023.
Snapchat is digging in with new features, such as in-app gaming. While it's too early to tell, that could improve the platform's numbers if popular.
“Increased competition from new and existing social platforms is partly to blame for Snapchat’s decline,” says eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg. “But the product launches the company announced last week, including an in-app gaming platform, may improve user engagement and time spent, particularly among its core young user base. Gaming also provides a new revenue stream for Snapchat that could boost its ad business in the future.”
In the U.S., Facebook appeals to the largest number of all social network users, with 83.9% active on the platform. Instagram gets 52.2%, Pinterest 38.5%, Snapchat 37.2%, and Twitter only 26.0%
As users leave Snapchat, Instagram has been the big winner. Its users base will rise by 6.2% this year, and it will add 19 million users in the U.S. by 2023.
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