Chikka lures over 5 M users in first half of ’08

Chikka Asia Inc., the popular Internet gateway to sending free text messages, recorded 5.25 million new members for the first half of 2008.

According to the company, over 40 million have become part of their community since releasing a patented mobile instant messaging system in 2001.

The company’s flagship Chikka Text Messenger service is a free download on www.chikka.com that allows users to send free SMS to supported mobile networks.

In the Philippines, Chikka connects to Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular subscribers.

“We believe that patented features translating to ease in creating accounts, adding buddies, and replying to Chikka messages, continue to drive the viral growth of Chikka Text Messenger,” said Chito Bustamante, Chikka Asia chief executive officer.

According to the company, more than half of Chikka online users are found outside the Philippines, in countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and throughout the Middle East.

Meanwhile, mobile users who register on Chikka via their handsets instantly receive a password to log in to Chikka, and themselves enjoy free text message allocations that are replenished daily. User IDs are simply their mobile phone numbers.

“The fact is our service has scarcely been marketed. In the same breadth, practically all our resources have been devoted to product development and its mirror intellectual property portfolio. The formula has largely worked as users continue to flock to our site, for one of the best and most efficient ways to communicate today,” Bustamante said.

Increased Internet penetration in the Philippines, itself a result of greater accessibility to broadband, has affected the mobile instant messaging business positively.

Chikka is also now seen to be adapting to a new Internet culture that is converging around social networking and UGC (user generated content) driven sites like Facebook and YouTube.

Last May, the company transformed its free download website incorporating the new Web 2.0 platform for Internet-based services. Not surprisingly, the centerpiece of the “All-new Chikka” is a download-free version of the original Chikka Text Messenger now compatible with other popular instant messaging networks.

A mobile forwarding feature allows users to receive offline messages as SMS on their mobile phones.

“Where others have been pure Web or mobile plays, Chikka is championing the true convergence of Web and mobile, embodied by the original Chikka Text Messenger, the expertise and best practices we have developed and patented around ‘the mobile way of doing things,’ and the reality of their convergence today in the All-new Chikka,” Bustamante said.

The new Web 2.0 version, according to Bustamante, is paving the way for Chikka’s adoption, beyond the Philippines, by mainstream online and mobile communities.