> Just not as bad an issue in Europe I guess.

The iMessage dominance is a uniquely American issue. In the most of the world people don't use it. Instead, multiplatform apps are the norm. It's not realistic to expect that most of the people around you will have an iPhone to use iMessage because iPhones are just too expensive to justify the purchase when you can get away with a much cheaper android device.

However, FaceTime is often used when possible.