????亞太地區(qū)擁有超過44億人口，在某些地區(qū)，擁有移動設(shè)備的人還很少。但在另外一些國家，市場上的電子產(chǎn)品琳瑯滿目，人們?nèi)粘χ悄苁謾C(jī)的依賴度程度比任何其它大洲的消費者還要高。

????這就解釋了為什么很多科技公司都把亞太地區(qū)當(dāng)作搖錢樹。作為科技行業(yè)的熱門領(lǐng)域之一，移動通信應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域正在醞釀著一場大戰(zhàn)。中國的微信（WeChat）、日本的Line和Facebook的WhatsApp已成鼎足之勢，即將為爭奪幾十億用戶展開惡斗。

????IDC公司駐孟買分析師希夫?普恰指出：“這些聊天應(yīng)用正在亞洲市場上展開一場平臺爭奪戰(zhàn)。它們的發(fā)展已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超越最初的短信服務(wù)，現(xiàn)已包含娛樂、游戲甚至是支付等諸多功能。實際上，它們在移動平臺上的影響力，很快就堪比谷歌（Google）和Facebook等公司在網(wǎng)絡(luò)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中的影響力。”

????為了準(zhǔn)備即將到來的大戰(zhàn)，這些聊天應(yīng)用背后的公司正在抓緊排兵布陣，締結(jié)同盟，以增加成功的機(jī)率。比如中國網(wǎng)絡(luò)巨頭騰訊公司（Tencent）最近剛剛收購了京東商城（JD.com）15%的股權(quán)，后者是中國第二大電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站。這筆交易的目的是為了在微信這款熱門應(yīng)用中添加移動支付功能。騰訊（它也是亞洲最有價值的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司，市值約1590億美元）還計劃為京東建立一個獨家的購物渠道，使微信的4.38億年輕的中國用戶可以輕松登陸這家電商門戶網(wǎng)站。

????日本的Line公司是騰訊在亞洲的最大對手。該公司已經(jīng)在東京證券交易所（Tokyo Stock Exchange）遞交了首次公開募股申請書，預(yù)計將融資98億美元。Ovum公司分析師尼哈?達(dá)利亞指出：“在這個層次的聊天應(yīng)用競爭中，產(chǎn)品創(chuàng)新將是決定成敗的一個重要因素?？磥鞮ine已經(jīng)了解了市場的這種變革，它的IPO之舉也是非常明智的?！?/p>

????與此同時，這個市場上也不時上演著收購大戲。比如硅谷的Facebook和東京的樂天公司（Rakuten）分別收購了WhatsApp和Viber，使這些被收購的公司可以不必?fù)?dān)心資金問題，專心研發(fā)新產(chǎn)品，擴(kuò)展他們的用戶群。

????Viber是一款由四名以色列合伙人創(chuàng)辦的聊天應(yīng)用，今年早些時候以9億美元的價格被日本樂天公司收購。Viber的有趣之處在于，很多人認(rèn)為它是微軟（Microsoft）熱門通訊軟件Skype的克隆版。有些人甚至認(rèn)為Viber在通訊上比Skype表現(xiàn)得更出色。

????WhatsApp繼續(xù)在全球范圍內(nèi)享有大量用戶群，但它在亞洲的前景則不那么清晰。與競爭對手相比，WhatsApp的缺陷在于功能還不夠豐富。除了產(chǎn)品創(chuàng)新以外，WhatsApp能否獲得更大范圍的流行，還取決于它能否成功利用龐大的Facebook用戶群，能否與其網(wǎng)絡(luò)與信息系統(tǒng)進(jìn)行整合，不過WhatsApp的CEO詹?庫姆今年二月曾否定過這個可能，他在一次行業(yè)會議上表示：“目前沒有與Facebook進(jìn)行整合的計劃?！闭f明WhatsApp被收購后的發(fā)展軌跡，很可能和Instagram差不多。

????高德納公司（Gartner）駐上海分析師沈哲怡表示：“WhatsApp面向的是全球市場，但它在亞洲相對較弱，微信把目光瞄準(zhǔn)了全球華人社區(qū)，所以它也在全球占據(jù)一席之地，但定位是不一樣的?！?/p>

????There are more than 4.4 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region. In some areas, few people have mobile devices. In others, the market is so saturated with electronics that people deeply engage with their smartphones—more than consumers on any other continent, according to some estimates.

????All of this helps explain why so many technology companies see the region as potentially lucrative. In one of the hotter areas of the technology industry, mobile communications applications, a wicked chat war is brewing. China’s WeChat, Japan’s Line, and Facebook’s WhatsApp (American in origin, but especially popular in Asia) are engaged in a fight for the hearts and mobile devices of billions of people.

????“The chat apps are all competing with each other in a platform land grab across Asian markets,” says Shiv Putcha, an analyst for IDC based in Mumbai. “They have extended well beyond the original SMS replacement service to include entertainment, gaming, and now payments. In effect, they are fast becoming the mobile equivalents of the online ecosystems built by the likes of Google and Facebook.”

????In preparation for the coming fight, the chat providers are building war chests and forging alliances to improve their chances of success. Tencent, the Chinese Internet giant, recently bought 15 percent of JD.com, the second largest e-commerce website in China, with the intention of adding a mobile payment function to its hugely popular WeChat platform. Tencent (which is Asia’s most valuable Internet company with a market capitalization that hovers around $159 billion) also plans to create an exclusive shopping channel for JD.com, thereby connecting WeChat’s 438 million young Chinese users to the e-commerce portal.

????Japan’s Line Corporation is Tencent’s biggest Asian chat rival. The company has filed for an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is expected to raise $9.8 billion. “Product innovation will be a strong differentiating factor at this level of chat app competition,” says Neha Dharia, an analyst at Ovum. “Line seems to have understood this change in the market and its I.P.O. move makes perfect sense.”

????Meanwhile, consolidation is taking place in the market. Silicon Valley’s Facebook and Tokyo’s Rakuten have acquired WhatsApp and Viber, respectively, allowing the acquired companies to focus on developing new products and expanding their user base without having to worry about funds.

????Viber, founded by four Israeli partners and acquired earlier this year for $900 million, is particularly interesting because it is considered to be a clone of Skype MSFT -0.04% , the popular Microsoft-owned communications software. Some argue that Viber is better suited to the task than the real McCoy.

????WhatsApp continues to enjoy massive global reach, but its future in Asia is unclear. Compared to rival applications, the service has limited functionality. Barring product improvements, its popularity could be dependent on its ability to leverage Facebook’s FB -0.52% immense user base and integrate with its namesake network and messaging system—a possibility WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum dashed in February. “No plans for integration with Facebook whatsoever,” he said at an industry conference, suggesting a post-acquisition trajectory similar to that of Instagram.

????“WhatsApp is for the global market but it’s weaker in Asia,” says Sandy Shen, an analyst for Gartner based in Shanghai. “WeChat is targeting the Chinese community worldwide, so it also has global presence. But its positioning is different.”