<p>Free mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Kik, Viber, WeChat and MessageMe are getting so popular in the developed world that they're eating away at the telecom operators' SMS revenues, traditionally a cash cow (and actually a bit of a scam) for carriers worldwide.</p><p>Unless you've been living under a rock, this trend is not much of a surprise Nokia is now making phones with a dedicated WhatsApp button my friends but it's always nice to be able to put some numbers on it. Are chat apps killing SMS?</p><p>Enter telecom and media consultancy firm Informa, which has compiled some data for the Financial Times that shows the above messaging apps and similar offerings from major electronics companies like Apple's iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger and Samsung's ChatON have overtaken SMS as the preferred way to send text messages (via BBC).</p><p>The research company says almost 19 billion text messages were sent per day using free mobile messaging apps for smartphones in 2012 compared with only 17.6 billion SMS texts and that this number will more than double to 41 billion per day this year.If this means death for SMS, it will be a very slow one</p><p><a href="http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/04/29/free-mobile-messaging-apps-will-be-the-death-of-sms-eventually/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22334338">Chat app messaging overtakes SMS texts, Informa says</a> (BBC News)</p><p><a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/462360/20130429/whatsapp-imessage-more-popular-sms-text-messaging.htm">Smartphone Chat Apps More Popular Than SMS Text Messaging</a> (IBTimes.co.uk)</p><p><a href="http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3444552/instant-messaging-overtakes-sms/?olo=editorspick">Instant messaging overtakes the humble SMS text</a> (PC Advisor)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dk86sARiFwjXl_Me2YDMNj3JA6ELM&ned=us">26 additional articles.</a></p>