Not so fast, Instagram! Vine reaches 40 million users

Vine triples number of users since June, defying expectations after debut of Instagram video

When Instagram debuted its own video feature in June, the general consensus seems to have been that it would prove to be a Vine killer. I mean, after all, Vine had only debuted in January and had 13 million users. Instagram, on the other hand, had over 100 million users. 

Now that people could simply create Vines on an app they had previously downloaded they would have no reason to download something new, right?

Wrong. If it was Instagram's intention to take the wind out of Vine's sails with that new feature, they sorely underestimated their competition.

Since that time, Vine has actually tripled its userbase, now reaching 40 million downloads, it was announced via Tweet on Tuesday.

We've said this before and we'll say it again: this community - now more than 40 million of you - is amazing. Thank you for inspiring us.

— Vine (@vineapp) August 20, 2013

Of course, that number might be a bit misleading: remember that it is the total number of people who have downloaded the app, and is not an indication of how many people are actually using it. 

Take me, for example. I downloaded the app when it first came out just to see what it was all about. I checked it for a week or two, but I have never created a Vine, and now I rarely, if ever, check the app for new videos. Yet I am counted among those 40 million.

Vine has not disclosed its monthly active users (MAUs), and is the number that really counts, especially to advertisers and brands.

Still, it is a remarkable achievement for Vine to have reached that number of downloads in such a short amount of time. Right now, it is ranked at number 8 for free apps on the iPhone in the United States, only two spots behind Instagram, which sits at number 6, according to AppData. 

Vine currently holds the top rank for social networking apps, above both Facebook and its parent company Twitter. (In case you were wondering, Instagram is counted as a photography app, and it currently sits on top of that section.)

The app was released on Android in June, but AppData currently has no ranking information for Vine on that operating system. Still, that had to have helped Vine reach these pretty astounding numbers, given that Android held nearly 80% market share on shipped phones during the last quarter. 

Vine, which was founded in June 2012, was then purchased by Twitter in October of last year before making its official debut in January.

Without any monthly active user numbers, its hard to say who is really winning in the fight between Instagram and Vine. But Vine is certainly showing itself to be a tougher competitor than Instagram, or actually most people, thought it would be.

(Image source: https://growingsocialmedia.com)