China's Tencent About To Overtake Facebook

China's Tencent owns the WeChat social networking app. The internet company's total social media platforms are seen surpassing that of Facebook in the near future.

Facebook is close to being dethroned as the world's No. 1 social network.

This is what happens when you're only serious numbers-game rival hails from a country of 1.4 billion people. Not to mention the fact that their incomes over the last decade have gone from $1,430 in 2004 to around $6,100 today, and that's the poorest of the poor. The rich in Shanghai and Guangzhou are doing better than New Yorkers (cheaper housing, cheaper schools, cheaper transportation; you get the picture).

Of course, what other country can it be but China? I mean, have you ever seen a Chinese traveler leaving a hotel elevator after a day shopping in Midtown? If this stuff keeps up the next generation of Chinese girls will be born with four arms. And one will be plugged into the latest Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

On it, will be something owned by Tencent.

China's internet juggernaut Tencent (HKG: 0700) is on its way to No. 1, WorldofCEOs founder Steve Tappin wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. He used monthly active users data compiled by Bloomberg, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse to see who rivaled Facebook. Tencent also owns QQ, a messaging, online gaming and shopping platform that really brings in the user totals.

WeChat, however, is Tencent's burgeoning growth story. It's the rocket engine that will lift Tencent out of Facebook's gravitational pull.

Last week, Facebook said it was losing teen users and said its overall growth in its monthly active user count slowed to a still impressive 18% annually. Of course, Facebook is banned in mainland China. So that brings the Chinese to sites RenRen, also known as China's Facebook, Sina's Weibo, or China's Twitter, and - Tencent with QQ and WeChat.

Tencent recently announced that the mobile messaging app WeChat has over 200 million users, up three times from 2012 year-ending levels of around 85 million.

WeChat was re-branded from the more Chinese-sounding Weixin recently in order to appeal to an international audience, particularly throughout Asia. It's now coming across the Pacific Ocean, notes Tappin of WorldofCEOs. Between May and September this year, WeChat's overseas users have doubled from 50 million to 100 million.

WeChat app users can 'shake' their smartphone and find other users anywhere in the world who are shaking their phones at the same moment! Turn up! (Oh, I hate that saying.)

In growing its international user base, writes Tappin, Tencent has brought on board brand ambassadors like LeBron James, footballer Lionel Messi and Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra, who users can follow and interact with. Shake that...

See: Who Has 1 Billion Users And About To Overtake Facebook? -LinkedIn

WeChat Comes At A Cost For Tencent - Quartz

For investors, Tencent and Facebook have basically tracked each other all year. Facebook only slipped behind in the late spring to mid-summer, but has rebounded nicely. The U.S. social network is up 85.2% year-to-date while Tencent is up 65.7%.