INSTANT MESSAGING APPS like WhatsApp, Snapchat and iMessage are expected to overtake traditional text messaging according to a new report.

Accounting firm Deloitte predicts that that instant messaging services will carry 50 billion messages per day globally in 2014, more than twice the number of text messages sent, The Guardian reports.

While instant messaging is expected to grow this year, SMS messages will continue to generate more revenue. Deloitte estimates as the market will generate more than $100 billion a year to operators, and predicts that SMS will generate more revenue until 2018.

A similar trend is also happening in Ireland as SMS messaging continues to fall and data usage rises. A recent report from ComReg found that the total number of messages sent in Ireland fell to 2.28 billion between July to September 2013, down 25.1 per cent during the same period in 2012.

Data volumes rose to over 10,500 terabytes during Q3 2013, increasing by 39.7 per cent in a year. It’s estimated that there are more than 5.6 million mobile phone subscriptions, and that industry revenues were worth €897.7 million.

Read: Explainer: Why are the major social media sites trying to break into mobile messaging? >

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