Snapchat's parent company, Snap, recently released figures that reveal a fall in the app's growth over the last six months. Whilst the app could boast an impressive 158 million daily users by the end of 2016, that represents just a 48% increase over the same period in 2015. Compared to 62% and 65% increases for Q3 and Q2 respectively, the figures demonstrate slowing user growth. In response to the decreasing growth, Snapchat has said that “accelerated growth in user engagement earlier in the year, diminished product performance, and increased competition” were to blame. Growth in the first six months was also shown to have been driven by increasing adoption rates in older demographics around the world. It has also been suggested that the introduction of Snapchat-style features on Instagram was having a direct effect on growth, as consumers' time was shared between the two.Â
