QQ did not have an English version that was usable until just recently. They did have an English version before but the instruction were all in Chinese. Also, QQ does not really advertise outside of China, while Skype and MSN advertise throughout the world.

Hello Yolanda, Foreigners like to keep a balance between China's over consumption of QQ ( notice the percentage users of a high population) by adapting the policy of QQ underutilization and a predisposition in favor of MSN, yahoo and skype. These preferences didn't lead to any misconception and the chat flow is smooth ;)

Here we use skype, msn & yahoo.

well,i think sandra`s answer is enough.. i am foreign student in china and i use qq to be in contect with my chinese friends! in my country india, people use yahoo..... and if we see with technical view....qq is the best no doubt! after all it is chinese softwere..and it is best...qq contains unique features ..i think after some years the most popular messanger will be qq! best of luck to qq!

I guess its just like most chinese people dont use yahoo messanger MSN skype. they just dont know it , people or their friends dont use or dont know in our country,so they are not popular than QQ in china. same way to think y foreigner dont use it. now QQ has english version more people get to know and use it.because they have many chinese friends or live in china. I DONT THINK its really a matter what they use.the most important is we can communicate and share the information!