<p>Asian mobile messaging app developers have expanded their service beyond providing social messaging to sell virtual items and allow third-party developers access to their platform as part of their monetization strategy, shares two regional players.Mobile chat</p><p>For South Korea-made social messaging app, KakaoTalk, opening its platform to third-party partners is key in its growth strategy, said Kate Sohn, vice president of global business development at Kakao. Describing the company as a "smart connector", she said KakaoTalk connects third-party partners to users to create profit together.</p><p>Sohn noted that KakaoTalk app sells digital items such as emoticons or themes with more than 98 percent of the content developed by third-party design shops which share revenue with Kakao. The platform has 66 million registered users worldwide as of November 2012, among which 55 million are in Asia with Korea being its largest market, she noted.</p><p>WeChat, a mobile messaging platform developed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, is doing something similar. Louis Song, WeChat's country manager for Malaysia and Singapore, said any third-party app can be integrated in the app using its open API.</p><p><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/asian-mobile-messaging-apps-banking-on-opening-api-analytics-7000008138/">Keep reading...</a></p>