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Such a waste. Most Whatsapp users already use Facebook in parallel. Facebook will never see a ROI on this acquisition. Not even close.
by higherpurpose 13y ago
Such a waste. Most Whatsapp users already use Facebook in parallel. Facebook will never see a ROI on this acquisition. Not even close.
- minimaxir 13y agoI wouldn't think of this from a ROI perspective. Facebook might be trying to go for the monopoly on mobile messaging. And once Facebook controls that, they can do anything.
- roc 13y agoOr they simply don't want/can't afford seeing large chunks of users move their usage away.
- nilkn 13y agoBuying WhatsApp isn't going to help too much there. SnapChat is still gaining steam and it won't be long until there's another serious competitor on top of that. The market has shown time and time again that in the messaging world it's extremely hard for one force to stay dominant for too long. Unless this pattern suddenly breaks today, Facebook will continue having to shell out many billions to keep buying these companies. I'm not convinced Facebook's profit is enough to keep that up.
- traskjd 13y agoNot saying this is the absolute case, but sometimes these things are defensive plays (e.g. instagram was starting to control more % of photographs - something that is pivotal to Facebook's continued success). Sometimes the ROI is in retaining your value and not dying, as opposed to getting $$ out of the investment. I'm guessing if you want to be the #1 social network for a long time, you don't want people being social outside your platform. I'd put this purchase in the defensive bucket.
- Karunamon 13y agoWhat makes you think that? Facebook already has its own messaging platform, while Whatsapp advertises themselves as a direct replacement for SMS.
- basilbthoppil 13y agoMore than just number of users, I think now its about number of man hours spent on facebook products.
- basilbthoppil 13y agoAnd for any ads company how much time customers spending on theirs product defines the ROI
- weixiyen 13y agosource?
- psbp 13y agoI'm convinced that Facebook is just investing in the market for ridiculously high purchases, artificially inflating the market.
- namenotrequired 13y agoWhat's the point in that from Facebook's perspective? Encouraging others to start competing with Facebook too?
- marincounty 13y agoI agree. It seems like just a waste of money. Maybe Facebook shoud just give money to users? I might even use Mark's site the right way; with my real name and honest profile. Or, just give more to the right charities?
- smackfu 13y agoThe point is that Facebook doesn't want you using anything in parallel.
- mathattack 13y agoYou could argue the same about Instagram, but perhaps this is defense. That said, it's at something like a third of Facebook's market cap.