Snapchat redesign sees shares plummet
May 3, 2018
Shares in Snap, Snapchat’s parent firm, dropped 17 per cent after it revealed the app’s unpopular redesign made it less attractive to current and potential users. Only four million new users were added in Q1 2018 – just over half the number forecast.
Snap has further warned slower growth and revenue for it social media app in Q2 as the lack of new users will negatively affect advertising revenue.
The data was revealed in the company’s first results since January’s overhaul. Revenue increased by more than 50 per cent to $230.7million in the first quarter, but also came in well below analysts’ expectations. Snap blamed the redesign for “disrupting user behaviour” and creating “apprehension” amongst its advertisers.
Snap made the changes as a way for the social network to monetise its service by including more adverts. But users complained that feeds were confusing and not chronological. Consequently, some one million people have signed a petition calling on Snap to return to the previous version.