WhatsApp Reaches 1 Billion Users
The Facebook-owned, and arguably the world’s most popular instant messaging app, Whatsapp has reached a major milestone today. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the app was now being used by a Billion people around the globe, with 42 billion messages along with 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos beaming across through WhatsApp servers daily.
Zuckerberg through his Facebook profile conveyed, “One billion people now use WhatsApp. There are only a few services that connect more than a billion people. This milestone is an important step towards connecting the entire world. WhatsApp’s community has more than doubled since joining Facebook. We’ve added the ability for you to call loved ones far away. We’ve dropped the subscription fee and made WhatsApp completely free. Next, we’re going to work to connect more people around the world and make it easier to communicate with businesses.”
Facebook bought the mobile messaging app in 2014, in a deal worth $19bn which back then was described by many analysts as not the best move forward for Facebook. Though most such doubts have been cast away but a couple of questions still linger.
Jack Kent, mobile analyst at IHS reacting to this news said, “WhatsApp still trails behind local competition in some key markets. There are big markets where WhatsApp isn’t the dominant player. WeChat in China has more than 500 million users, while Line is popular in Japan, and Kakao Talk is big in South Korea. But WhatsApp is certainly the most internationally successful.”
