Smart buys Chikka.com

Q: Key Point 5: Update: According to multiple sources, the deal was in the...

Update: According to multiple sources, the deal was in the vicinity of Php750 million.

Abe Olandres November 10, 2009 · 1 min read

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It’s been confirmed that yesterday Smart Communications has bought Chikka.com for some undisclosed amount. Two top executives from Chikka Asia Inc. posted updates on their Twitter account about this development.

This has long been rumored but we’ve finally gotten word that they’ve both signed off on the agreement yesterday.

Dennis Mendiola is the Founder and Chief Imagination Officer of Chikka:

dennis mendiola

Gio Bacareza is the Business Development Director of Chikka:

gio bacareza

I’m still getting some more details and will update this post as I get them.

Chikka Asia, Inc. is a wireless application service provider, better known for creating the world’s first instant messenger to fully integrate mobile features via SMS, the Chikka Messenger. It has about 38 million registered users, including mobile subscribers from network operators worldwide and is interoperable with Google Talk .

Update: According to multiple sources, the deal was in the vicinity of Php750 million.

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Abe Olandres

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Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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83 Comments

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Team Focus · 12 years ago

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Ewan · 14 years ago

Nimbuzz naman tayo.

alfredo francisco · 15 years ago

papa chat nman tau ngun

Paolo · 15 years ago

Smart move by Smart. There is a lot of money to be made with Chikka :)

otepsphere · 15 years ago

The smart company is really smart.. maybe in future they see that chikka will be a threath :D …

insider · 16 years ago

Smart is not shutting down chikka. In fact they are pouring in more capital to the company (for the new office, new servers etc)

insider · 16 years ago

Chikka just had its third retrenchment a month or two ago. Business is REALLY going bad. CP? They’ve reduced their content department from 20+ members to 2. Yes. Only 2 remains. This isn’t a good move at all when few years back, Google was buying Chikka.

Eye Strain · 16 years ago

At first this sounded like great news, but it seems the merger isn’t going so well now. I wonder what this really means for smart now?

anonymous1 · 16 years ago

I think smart finds no more use of chikka. They are starting to shut them down.

observer1 · 16 years ago

yes, nakain na ni smart si chikka… nararamdaman na ng chikka people ngayon yan… :) smart move si smart talaga… nice.

megan · 16 years ago

i cant access chikka.com in my new laptop. eseries sony ..also in samsung mini laptop.help!

maryon mayor · 16 years ago

wow.. chikka was bought by smart? really now…

why would smart bother to buy chika? hmmm… chika has loads of information, from cellphone numbers to emails, to contacts. chika is even on your desktop.. :) may be that will answer your questions, that why would smart bother buying chika.

anyway…

chika was very famous back then but didnt evolve to much profitable terms…

IMO

chika is cheating… chika users pretend as the normal users masked with the name… then when you reply.. 2.50php will cost the sender.. :( too bad…

jeremy · 16 years ago

0919******* penge load pki send po jan

jeremy · 16 years ago

0919******* penge load pki send po jan

jeremy · 16 years ago

0919******* pene load pki send po jan

jong de ramon · 16 years ago

why is it that telcos are acquiring content providers. ito na ba ang business model ngayon? they have wolfac right? globe has EGG? what next? ung IG kaya or ZED?

B. RAHI HOH · 16 years ago

huh! no doubt smart will charge chikka’s free txt messages to globe/sun while maintaining the free service to smart network only.

THEunknown · 16 years ago

I enjoyed reading your opinions.. But for me i don’t think smart will kill chikka’s operation. Chikka is the leading content provider for Smart. Note that telecoms here’s does not develop content from themselves but they look for CP which can make and develop products and services for them. Most of the free txt alerts, horoscopes, ring tones and other services are dveloped by CPs. And i think buying chikka is a good move for Smart. Maybe chikka has the best and fastest innovating CP.

Pooh Thank in a Moo · 16 years ago

Wag na problemahin yan. Kadaming free text websites. Kung marunong lang kayong maghanap.

rey mendoza · 16 years ago

they can shut down the free text service but there will always be other options, if smart bought them to kill competition, they are dead wrong.

peter · 16 years ago

I doubt if it is a good thing. The good old days of free texting from pc to globe, sun, and smart may be over! Smart has its greedy intentions for buying chikka.

badnobe · 16 years ago

patay tayo nyan. siguradong di na libre ang chikka. smart pa. eh talagang smart yang mga yan.

Dentures Boy · 17 years ago

Paano na po kaya ang free text nila?

FREEUNLITXTPH · 17 years ago

This would be interesting. Hope it would still be free.

AdRian · 17 years ago

magiging free pa kaya ang chikka?

chrislpc · 17 years ago

38 million registered users? pag nakareceive ka ng chikka message automatically registered ka na sa server nila bibigyan ka na agad ng password. Hateful behavior in my opinion. Ang dami ko na kinagalitan na sa hotline ng mga telco kasi sabi ko alisin nyo ako sa chikka, i don’t want to receive them, pero ayaw pa rin nila iblock…

VeeBee · 17 years ago

i think smart just bought chikka for the database records. after all, their uzzap is going quite well. but anyways, i still think my little kuripotxt is better than chikka :P wahaha

iamupset · 17 years ago

the only people really happy about this development are dennis and his group, congrats on your new found riches.

This is not exactly like Google buying AdMob, which to me is such painfully obvious move by Google for even more global domination.

Chikka was hot with potential a few years ago (which is like a several decades in the IT world), now it seems to have lagged in it’s evolvement and lost a lot of it’s relevance. Messaging now is even more integrated than it was before. I totally agree with Abe, it’s all about being mobile and connected.

A little skeptical with this move, but Smart is Smart. They won’t invest unless there is a ton of money involved.

roan carl · 17 years ago

greedy corporations hehehe…

Rome · 17 years ago

@christopher:
well, yeah Smart won’t buy a non-income generating product/company. But it’s also possible that they would shutdown/close Chikka’s operation. It happens in the corporate world – they buy you then shut you down! If you are becoming a threat, then might as well eliminate you from the competition. That’s the worst case scenario. ;)

Kelvin Servigon · 17 years ago

Good to know that Smart is expanding its services! :D

Christopher Quijano · 17 years ago

But I think this will conflict with their “other” chat network/free sms product – Uzzap. I wonder how Smart will market it with their product line up.

I think smart won’t buy a non-income generating product/company.

Jervis · 17 years ago

I think this is a win-win move for both parties =) And its consumers will get more, with expanded mobile services.

Carlo Dimaandal · 17 years ago

Err I wonder what’ll happen to their free text service?

PoptheCorn · 17 years ago

I am not sure if this is a good move. we’ll see. There were free internet based free sms before that did not work.

alfredo · 17 years ago

it’s about time!

Leo · 17 years ago

will they still allow free texting to globe and sun cell networks?

cutemoboy · 17 years ago

ow.. Thats y i cant connect to chikka since yesterday.. mybe der uprading or somthing.. i just hope this merge between smart and chikka will be good & w/o a catch to its service in the future..
& hope the app & service will still be FREE!

Millionaire Acts · 17 years ago

Wow! This is good news! And this adds portfolio to Smart’s Services. I’m sure with the integration of these two companies, there would be other services that Smart would offer to its subscribers soon.