If, like me, you're part of the Twitterverse, you'd probably be surprised to hear that Twitter in India can't really be considered a success. Yes, you can't escape its cacophony. But ultimately, its fortunes are tied to numbers rather than noise. And when it comes to numbers, Twitter's aren't great.
In terms of users, it is outstripped by most popular social media apps, both global and local. In February 2021, India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology stated that while Instagram had 210 million users in the country, Twitter had merely 15 million.
In terms of revenue, Twitter India has been stagnant. In 2019, its Indian operations contributed just $17 million to its global revenue, according to a source in today's story. By 2021, that figure was still less than $20 million. When you consider that Twitter mopped up $5.08 billion in global revenue in 2021, India's contribution is barely a rounding error.
Twitter's lack of traction in the country is the result of many self-inflicted wounds. A lack of stable, local leadership ACEO Jack Dorsey who didn't consider India a priority; and a refusal to change to better serve the Indian market. Political tussles along the way certainly couldn't have helped.
Twitter, though, didn't really care. Its most important markets in terms of revenue are the US and Japan, in that order. But what's happened since is that both markets are quickly becoming saturated. So, to grow, Twitter is turning to developing markets it could afford to neglect in the past. Chief among them, India.
Twitter is determined to right its past mistakes, and is going all out to finally break free of its shackles in India. It has assembled a dedicated team in Bengaluru - helmed by top executives from San Francisco to finally adapt Twitter for the Indian market.
