Snapchat Reports That India is Now a Key Driver of AR Usage and Development

Snapchat has reported that India is now its key growth market for AR creators, with India’s AR developer community growing by over 50% in two years.

Snap made the announcement at its annual India AR Day event in Mumbai, where it also shared that Indian AR developers now create the highest number of AR Lenses in the app.

As reported by Snap:

“With over 200 million Snapchatters in India using the platform to visually express themselves, connect, and enjoy content, AR has become central to communication and creativity. We believe long-term success in AR relies on a strong developer ecosystem, and we remain deeply committed to fostering this vibrant community.”

Lenses have become a key usage option for Indian Snapchatters, with over 85% of local users engaging with Snap’s digital overlays and effects. That’s opened up new opportunity for local developers and enthusiasts, which has also given Snap the opportunity to tap into a broader range of creative talent.

Snapchat says that its global AR ecosystem now has more than 375,000 creators worldwide, who’ve cumulatively built over 4 million AR effects for the app. Snapchatters engaged with those experiences over 4.5 trillion times last year, and Indian users are gradually contributing more and more to this expanding ecosystem.

Which could bode well for Snap’s future prospects, including its AR glasses, which it plans to launch to consumers sometime in the next few years. Snap’s been vague on the details, but developers can now access the initial working models of the device.

Though India, traditionally, hasn’t been a strong revenue driver for social apps, and likely won’t be for hardware devices either.

But for Snap, it is now a key market, with the majority of Snap’s usage growth now coming from the India, while its expansion has largely stalled in the U.S. and Europe.

Which poses business growth challenges for the app, but again, with the expansion of its AR tools, it will open up new opportunities, in a range of ways.

And clearly, there’s interest there, particularly in AR, and maybe, that will help Snap play a bigger role in the next phase of AR development, despite competition from bigger players in the space.