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I don't think they're buying it per current user. It's either about paying for future users (granted, triple the user base and it's still a lot) or a game of d

I don't think they're buying it per current user. It's either about paying for future users (granted, triple the user base and it's still a lot) or a game of defense against a potential competitor. They bought the photo company at what seemed an outrageous amount in part to co-opt a competitor. In the end it was profitable. They alter their feed to look more Twitter-like, encouraging people to avoid the competitor. I see this as defense too. It isn't about new users, it's about corporate competition.

nwh 13y ago
> triple the user base and it's still a lot WhatsApp current has 430M monthly active users[0], compared with FaceBook's 1.2B[1] monthly active users. Tripling their userbase would make them the same size FaceBook is itself. ED: Corrected as child comments pointed out. [0]: http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2013/12/400-million-stories/ http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2013/12/400-million-stori... [1]: http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=821954 http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=821954
- ggreenbe 13y ago
  To be honest, why not? I can see WhatsApp having more active users than Facebook in the future considering their current growth %.
  - mathattack 13y ago
    Seems reasonable since they do well on low tech phones. Facebook is limited by the amount of internet connections and smartphones.
- underwater 13y ago
  Facebook has 1.23B monthly actives and 750M daily actives. Your WhatsApp link is using MAU as a metric.
Nicholas_C 13y ago
>They bought the photo company at what seemed an outrageous amount in part to co-opt a competitor. In the end it was profitable. Are you talking about Instagram? Unless I've been living under a rock I haven't heard or read anything that says they're profitable.
- ulfw 13y ago
  Plus they didn't even cost 1 Billion. Chump change.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Instagram. Since the purchase, photos are much more prevalent in the main Facebook offering, and there isn't anyone else building a photo site to compete.

nwh 13y ago

> triple the user base and it's still a lot WhatsApp current has 430M monthly active users[0], compared with FaceBook's 1.2B[1] monthly active users. Tripling their userbase would make them the same size FaceBook is itself. ED: Corrected as child comments pointed out. [0]: http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2013/12/400-million-stories/ http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2013/12/400-million-stori... [1]: http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=821954 http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=821954

ggreenbe 13y ago
To be honest, why not? I can see WhatsApp having more active users than Facebook in the future considering their current growth %.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Seems reasonable since they do well on low tech phones. Facebook is limited by the amount of internet connections and smartphones.
underwater 13y ago
Facebook has 1.23B monthly actives and 750M daily actives. Your WhatsApp link is using MAU as a metric.

Nicholas_C 13y ago

>They bought the photo company at what seemed an outrageous amount in part to co-opt a competitor. In the end it was profitable. Are you talking about Instagram? Unless I've been living under a rock I haven't heard or read anything that says they're profitable.

ulfw 13y ago
Plus they didn't even cost 1 Billion. Chump change.
mathattack 13y ago
Instagram. Since the purchase, photos are much more prevalent in the main Facebook offering, and there isn't anyone else building a photo site to compete.