Why have 3 million users left Snapchat?

Photo sharing app Snapchat lost 3 million users during its most recent financial quarter, the first drop in daily activity in the company’s seven-year history.

The social app’s financial results from its second quarter, ending on 30 June, reveal that an average of 188 million users interacted with the platform daily over the three-month period, a 3 million drop compared with the previous quarter.

Shares in the company fell by around 8% when the markets opened in New York yesterday morning, before finishing the day 6.8% down, the BBC says.

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Rob Kniaz, co-founder of technology venture capitol firm Hoxton Ventures, told the broadcaster: “When you look at the numbers, if you’ve lost 3 million of your most active users by definition, it tells you something is materially wrong with the product and maybe the company.”

It’s believed the drop in users resulted from a controversial redesign in November, which prompted 1.2 million users to sign a petition “urging the company to revert to the previous layout”, The Independent reports.

But Snapchat chief Evan Spiegel wrote in a letter to investors that the company has “now addressed the biggest frustrations we’ve heard and are eager to make more progress on the tremendous opportunity we now have to show more of the right content to the right people”.

Despite the user exodus, The Verge says Snapchat’s financial results are still exceeding investor expectations.

Revenue grew by 44% when comparing this year’s second quarter to the same period in 2017, rising from $182m (£139m) last year to $262m (£203m) in 2018, the tech site says.