Pal: India’s new ‘WhatsApp killer’ app faces an uphill climb without innovation

India’s latest attempt to build a homegrown alternative to WhatsApp is gaining attention. Though Arattai has seen a surge in downloads after a government minister endorsed the app, experts say its success will depend on whether it can truly offer something new. 

For CNBC, University of Michigan School of Information professor Joyojeet Pal, an expert on the role of social media in India, says the platform will need to innovate beyond WhatsApp to stand out. 

“For any platform to be successful, they either need to do something significantly better than the previous competitor, offer something different, or have policy buoyancy,” he says. 

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Read “From X to TikTok clones, and now a ‘WhatsApp killer’: India’s search for indigenous apps’” on CNBC. 

Learn more about Joyojeet Pal and his research on technology in India by visiting his UMSI faculty profile.