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Anybody think WhatsApp will still be here in a year or two?
by justhw 14y ago
Anybody think WhatsApp will still be here in a year or two?
- nobodyshere 14y agoIf google acquires them, they won't be there as WhatsApp anymore. Probably a better integration of gtalk is to be expected 'soon'.
- Havoc 14y agoDefinitely. Its a really powerful force in 3rd world countries. Here is ZA they cornered the market completely. Unless they screw it up themselves they aren't going to lose that head start. Not with the kind of network effects at play here.
- ubershmekel 14y agoZA = South Africa?
- atlbeer 14y agoYes
- joelhaasnoot 14y agoWhile they own the market - not sure they can get people to actually pay for the product. Not sure they can afford to give it away free.
- eitland 14y agoOne year free, then 1 usd a year and promise of no ads: they are here to make a healthy revenue on a great messaging solution. It's brilliantly done (-some security issues) and I happily pay a dollar a year for it.
- joelhaasnoot 14y agoI have yet to pay, atleast two if not three years in.
- sergiotapia 14y agoAt least here in Bolivia, literally every single person I've talked to that owns a smartphone uses WhatsApp to communicate. Not even Facebook messenger, but WhatsApp specifically. It _completely_ obliterated BBPin when Blackberry was more in use, but since Android picked up a lot of marketshare here with Samsung's Galaxy line it's dropped out of the radar.
- DasIch 14y agoWhatsApp just like Instagram is too valuable as a brand. I expect that WhatsApp will be managed very much like YouTube in that it will remain independent and will be slowly integrated in the Google ecosystem over time so that people recognize it as a Google service.