WeChat makes an average of $7 a year from each of its users

"The major players in Asia — WeChat, LINE, and KakaoTalk — have already begun driving revenue by launching apps and services on top of their messaging platforms. Almost everything a smartphone user would do inside a native app can now be done inside a messaging app: gaming, ordering taxis, sending and receiving money, listening to music, watching TV, buying goods online, and so on.
Average revenue per user is very high for messengers that offer these platform layers: $7.00 for WeChat, $4.24 for KakaoTalk, and $3.16 for LINE. The main drivers of revenue are games and, for KakaoTalk, e-commerce. By comparison, WhatsApp makes $0.06 per user, and this money comes exclusively from subscriber fees. The upside of introducing platform layers is quantified, and now that Facebook Messenger has launched a nascent app store and virtual assistant ‘M’ inside its service, the messaging landscape seems to have found its revenue roadmap."

Source:  Stephanie Newman on Medium, 23rd November 2015