LONDON: Despite being competitors to one another, Viber and WhatsApp have never had a one on one conflict as the two know that their target audiences are very different. People, who use WhatsApp, use it specifically for IM while those who use Viber use it specifically for VoIP services that it provides.
Most people would not text using Viber and would not prefer to call using WhatsApp. It is only a recent tale that WhatsApp has entered the VoIP segment.
Viber has been a revolutionary application as it was the first application in the markets which talked about making free calls. Skype had been there for years before anyone even thought of Viber, but never was it positioned across as an app which could make ‘free calls’.
It is all a game of marketing and Viber took the ball and ran home with it. Viber has effectively positioned its brand across as a ‘free calling service’ provider and not as an application that provides ‘VoIP’ services like Skype.
Voice over Internet Protocol is a good concept and it has been there for years, however, people don’t look for technology, they don’t look for products.
People look at products as bundles of benefits. Essentially speaking, if you are a user of Skype you can connect via VoIP technology, but if you are a user of Viber, you can make free calls. The company has managed to create an amazing public perception about them and that has been their strongest point.
Viber has made the world a global village. It has been the leading name in terms of connectivity and communication. The application has managed to get nearly 500 million, which is half a billion users to download it, and use their services.
To download viber, open your market application and search for Viber. For PC users, you can log on to www.viber.com and download from there. This is one area where viber has been opportunistic. None of the smartphone apps managed to capitalize on their popularity by expanding to PC.
