Snap profits are near as user numbers grow

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 23 October 2019
 

Snapchat has added seven million users to its platform, giving it a year of consistent user growth.

In the third quarter results, Snapchat’s daily active users (DAUs) were 210 million, compared to 203 million in the previous quarter.

Time spent watching its Discover feed was up 40% year-on-year, while revenue increased by 50% year-on-year to US$446 million.

While the social media business hasn’t reached profitability, CEO Evan Spiegel, hopes to reach the milestone by the next quarter.

“We are a high growth business, with strong operating leverage, a clear path to profitability, a distinct vision for the future, the ability to invest over the long term, and a proven history of execution through the ups and downs as a public company,” Spiegel says.

Snap has focused on its AR to grow its business, with 600,000 Lenses created through its Lens Studio in the third quarter, up by 100,000 from the previous quarter.

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Snapchat quarter three results

Snap has long touted its advantage in AR due to its camera-first nature, however this may be challenged by Facebook’s latest app Threads.

“We believe that smartphone-based augmented reality will be an important driver of our business over the coming years,” Spiegel says.

“Snapchat now powers billions of daily AR experiences, with each of our daily active users interacting with augmented reality nearly 30 times every day on average.

“In the short term, meaning the next one to 1-3 years, we are focused on scaling our content and augmented reality platforms, making Snapchat content and augmented reality easier to create, easier to monetize, and more personalized,” Spiegel sas.

“Over the medium term, the next 3-5 years, we will work to further enhance, scale, and monetize our maps and gaming platforms. Looking out over the long term, the next 7-10 years, we will work towards realizing our vision of computing overlaid on the world through wearable augmented reality.”

However, Facebook has been pushing deeper into the AR space which could be a real challenge for snap given its biggest user base.

Earlier this year Instagram launched its Spark AR, which like Lens Studio, allowed users to create their own AR filters.

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