CTIA: The number of text messages sent and received in the United States in 2012 was 2.19 trillion, down 5% due to the impact of social chat applications

According to the latest report released by the wireless association CTIA on Thursday, the number of SMS messages sent and received in the United States has been declining year by year. The survey results show that the number of SMS messages sent and received has dropped from 2.3 trillion in 2011 to 2.19 trillion last year, a decline of 5%. One of the main reasons is that the SMS service has been occupied by a variety of social chat applications, such as Apple's iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber and BBM, etc. This chat service that can send and receive pictures and voice messages at the same time is favored by more and more consumers.

According to a survey by the Associated Press, traditional SMS services have been continuously eroded by these social chat applications over the past six years. Operators have also begun to adjust their charging strategies, abandoning the previous charging method of 10 cents per message and instead using data traffic packages as much as possible.