SOFIA (SeeNews), October 13 (SeeNews) – Viber, a leading messages app globally, is expected to generate up to five times higher revenues from operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) next year, a senior company official said on Friday.
"Based on the pace at which the number of smartphone users in the region increases, we expect our client base in CEE to grow by a further 10-15%," Atanas Raykov, director business development CIS and CEE, told SeeNews on the sidelines of a regional conference organised by United Partners and the International Public Relations Association in Sofia.
"Between 70 and 85% of all smartphone users in Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia are our clients," Raykov noted.
One of the highlights of Viber's development strategy for the region next year will be e-commerce.
"We see a lot of interesting things going on in e-commerce," Raykov said. "We want to tap on the experience of our parent company, which is one of the global tech leaders in e-commerce."
Viber, with a user base of more than 900 million people worldwide, is part of Japan-based electronic commerce and Internet company Rakuten Group.
COMING UP - AN INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS RAYKOV, DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CIS AND CEE