Mobile IM service eBuddy topping the iPhone app charts

eBuddy has been in the mobile IM business since 2003. In the last year we’ve seen it doing great business in the mobile app market. But after its long-awaited and unpublicised iPhone launch last week, it has become the most downloaded free social networking app in 21 countries.

What does eBuddy do?

Basically it’s an IM aggregator. With eBuddy you can chat on AIM, Facebook Chat, ICQ, Gtalk, Yahoo! or MSN Windows Live Messenger from your mobile. You can have more than one chat open at one time, and new chats are automatically pushed to your device.

eBuddy seems pretty proud of the fact that even without being publicised, the app has rocketed up the download charts in a lot of different countries. Analytics company Distimo claims the app has hit the no.1 spot in 21 countries for free social networking apps. It also says it’s in the top 5 in 31 and the top 10 in 37 countries.

From the release:

“eBuddy for iPhone has already achieved significant viral growth without any marketing, and  we’re proud that eBuddy for iPhone is the first, free multi-network mobile instant messenger application with push notification,” comments Jan-Joost “JJ” Rueb, CEO and co-founder of eBuddy. “We’ve had over 2 million unique iPhone and iPod Touch users on the eBuddy Lite Messenger platform, and we’re pleased to see them convert over to the eBuddy for iPhone application along with our many new users.”

What we think?

I’ve always like eBuddy, if I’m being honest. Because it’s browser-based and uses widely available IM clients, it is completely operator-independent. And eBuddy concentrated on being a platform independent app for a long time. Spreading it’s java version over GetJar has obviously raised the profile of the app. It’s also available for Android, which is a good place to be considering the coming line-up of devices for Android.