MXit
 |
|
| Developer(s) |
 Mxit (Pty) Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2007 |
| Stable release | |
| Development status | Defunct |
| Operating system |
Microsoft Windows Windows Mobile Mac OS X Android iOS Java ME Linux BlackBerry OS |
| Type | Instant Messenger |
| License | Freeware |
| Website |
www www |
Mxit (pronounced "mix it") was a free instant messaging application developed by Mxit (Pty) Ltd. in South Africa that ran on over 8,000 devices, including feature phones, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone and tablets.
According to a study by consultancy World Wide Worx, Mxit had 7.4 million monthly active subscribers in July 2013, of which 6.3 million were South Africans.
The company announced its closure in a statement on October 23, 2015. All of the company's intellectual property and technology assets were donated to The Reach Trust, an independent public benefit organisation. While initially the organisational changes did not affect the mobile social network, and users were still able to access and use all its services, in September 2016 it was announced that the service would be closing on 30 September.
Mxit originates from Stellenbosch, a university town in South Africa. In 1997, Herman Heunis established Swist Group Technologies and focused primarily on the mobile telecommunications industry, developing software and providing system support to large Telco's. In 2000 Clockspeed Mobile, a research and development division of Swist Group Technologies, developed a Massive Multiplayer Mobile game named Alaya. The game was SMS based and was not successful due to the high cost of SMS since GPRS was still not widely implemented. In 2003 the game was reassessed and the MXit concept was conceived by Herman that same year, MXit has evolved to become a major IM player in the South African arena thereafter. In April 2004 Clockspeed Mobile became independent and on 1 July 2006 became MXit Lifestyle (Pty) Ltd. In January 2007, media giant Naspers acquired a 30% stake in the company for an undisclosed amount. In 2013, competitor 2go overtook Mxit in term of users across Africa.
In September 2011, Mxit was acquired by South African investment group, World of Avatar.
Following the abrupt resignation of then boss, Alan Knott-Craig, Jr., Francois Swart received the nod from Mxit to become the new CEO (Mzekandaba, 2013).
Former First National Bank CEO Michael Jordaan was announced chairman of the Mxit board in September 2013.
The shutting down of Mxit was announced on October 23, 2015 in a public statement by the company after user numbers dropped dramatically over the last 2–3 years. Competition from various other social platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger along with Mxit's own lack of technological advances in the social arena attributed to the company's closure. The donating all of its intellectual property and technology assets to independent public benefit organisation The Reach Trust was announced in the statement issued by the company.
...
Wikipedia