5 ms·

Citation needed; I'd certainly love to know whether J2ME devices were a significant chunk of WhatsApp's actives, but there's zero data to back up the suggestion

by mik3y 13y ago

Citation needed; I'd certainly love to know whether J2ME devices were a significant chunk of WhatsApp's actives, but there's zero data to back up the suggestion..

dsl 13y ago
As of today: Smartphones outsold feature phones for this first time ever in India. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/samsung-smartphones-outsell-feature-phones/1/344332.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/samsung-smartphones-outse... From my personal experiences, international countries that have smartphone adoption use Viber, and the feature phone countries use WhatsApp.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Singapore is a Smartphone country, but Whatsapp is pretty dominant there. (I didn't run into anyone who didn't use it as their primary messaging platform)
  - rabino 13y ago
    Same in Argentina
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    In China, it seems to be Wechat. I had never heard of WhatsApp.
  - yen223 13y ago
    Same up here in Malaysia. In fact, it's starting to look like the only places that isn't dominated by WhatsApp are America and China.
    - dba7dba 13y ago
      You forgot china/Skorea/Japan, all big markets. WeChat - china S Korea - kakaotalk 90% market share LINE - Japan 50 million users with 300 million worldwide And all three have significant revenue in double digit US millions a year, unlike WhatsApp which has no real revenue...
      - skinnymuch 13y ago
        Whatsapp has revenue in the double digit US millions per year. Their profit might even be in that range.
- terhechte 13y ago
  WhatsApp is also really strong here in Germany and other parts of Europe. More of my friends are on WhatsApp than Facebook (only very few more though).
  - danieldk 13y ago
    Also in the Netherlands. E.g. in June 2013, 75% of the smartphone users used WhatsApp daily. Moreover, more than three quarter of the Dutch citizens has a smartphone. So, WhatsApp is definitely used in high-profit markets as well. Source: http://www.nu.nl/tech/3506473/whatsapp-heeft-kwart-miljard-actieve-gebruikers.html http://www.nu.nl/tech/3506473/whatsapp-heeft-kwart-miljard-a...
  - sschueller 13y ago
    These numbers are going to drop significantly now. Everyone I talk to is unhappy about the acquisition and will switch to something else like telegram.
    - enewcomer 13y ago
      Unless everybody switches, few will switch. Network effects also create some pretty powerful stickiness.
    - krisgenre 13y ago
      Unless Facebook actually puts their logo on WhatsApp, hardly anyone would notice. The tech community is minuscule compared to the large number of non-tech people using WhatsApp.
    - ville 13y ago
      I'd say more than 99.9% of WhatsApp users haven't heard of Telegram. WhatsApp users are mostly not early adopters like you and your friends. They are ordinary people, because WhatsApp is is a simple communication tool targeted to everyone. And that's why they keep doubling their user base.
    - Jare 13y ago
      The uproar in Spain about WhatsApp switching to $1 per year was huge, noisy and... emphemeral. Line got a lot of new signups for a few weeks, but the only person I know that still considers using Line today didn't even have WhatsApp back then (but, like everyone else, does have it now).
- dba7dba 13y ago
  KakaoTalk is big in S Korea. LINE is big in Japan. LINE has 300 million users, with 50 million in Japan. As far as I know, both are very profitable through sales of digital goods like stickers etc.
phn 13y ago
Remember that it's not only the J2ME actives that matter. The fact that you have access to all your friends wihtout exception inside the same app is killer, even if you have the latest iPhone. That's what made me return to WhatsApp in the first place. That, coupled with an apparently flawless experience.
Indyan 13y ago
It's not just the raw numbers. I would love to move onto Telegram, which is more secure, has an API, and works from a desktop. But, I can't. There are about five or six odd people in my life (professional or private) that I message frequently. Even if 1 out of them isn't on a particular messaging platform, I can't adopt that platform wholeheartedly. With Fb Messages, Hangouts and every other popular smartphone oriented messaging platform there would always be that one or two contacts that you regularly communicate with, who would be left out due to having an incompatible device. Whatsapp on the other hand works on pretty much every phone. When you want to replace something as prevalent as SMS, the long tail matters. There's another tangible benefit of focusing on so many platforms. Whatsapp, which doesn't spend much (if anything at all) on promotion, is prominently featured in the advertisements of many budget phones, as manufacturers see Whatsapp support as a strong selling point.
- mkesper 13y ago
  Use SMS.
  - SyneRyder 13y ago
    Not when SMS costs 29c per message. The free global text messaging that Whatsapp provides is potentially very disruptive to telcos.
    - aleh 13y ago
      It's the same way around. If telcos drop SMS const or make them free few people will have initiative to use Whatsapp.
qwerta 13y ago
Yeah, all those people in India and Africa use latest Iphone :-)

by mik3y 13y ago

Citation needed; I'd certainly love to know whether J2ME devices were a significant chunk of WhatsApp's actives, but there's zero data to back up the suggestion..

dsl 13y ago

As of today: Smartphones outsold feature phones for this first time ever in India. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/samsung-smartphones-outsell-feature-phones/1/344332.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/samsung-smartphones-outse... From my personal experiences, international countries that have smartphone adoption use Viber, and the feature phone countries use WhatsApp.

ghshephard 13y ago
Singapore is a Smartphone country, but Whatsapp is pretty dominant there. (I didn't run into anyone who didn't use it as their primary messaging platform)
- rabino 13y ago
  Same in Argentina
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  In China, it seems to be Wechat. I had never heard of WhatsApp.
- yen223 13y ago
  Same up here in Malaysia. In fact, it's starting to look like the only places that isn't dominated by WhatsApp are America and China.
  - dba7dba 13y ago
    You forgot china/Skorea/Japan, all big markets. WeChat - china S Korea - kakaotalk 90% market share LINE - Japan 50 million users with 300 million worldwide And all three have significant revenue in double digit US millions a year, unlike WhatsApp which has no real revenue...
    - skinnymuch 13y ago
      Whatsapp has revenue in the double digit US millions per year. Their profit might even be in that range.
terhechte 13y ago
WhatsApp is also really strong here in Germany and other parts of Europe. More of my friends are on WhatsApp than Facebook (only very few more though).
- danieldk 13y ago
  Also in the Netherlands. E.g. in June 2013, 75% of the smartphone users used WhatsApp daily. Moreover, more than three quarter of the Dutch citizens has a smartphone. So, WhatsApp is definitely used in high-profit markets as well. Source: http://www.nu.nl/tech/3506473/whatsapp-heeft-kwart-miljard-actieve-gebruikers.html http://www.nu.nl/tech/3506473/whatsapp-heeft-kwart-miljard-a...
- sschueller 13y ago
  These numbers are going to drop significantly now. Everyone I talk to is unhappy about the acquisition and will switch to something else like telegram.
  - enewcomer 13y ago
    Unless everybody switches, few will switch. Network effects also create some pretty powerful stickiness.
  - krisgenre 13y ago
    Unless Facebook actually puts their logo on WhatsApp, hardly anyone would notice. The tech community is minuscule compared to the large number of non-tech people using WhatsApp.
  - ville 13y ago
    I'd say more than 99.9% of WhatsApp users haven't heard of Telegram. WhatsApp users are mostly not early adopters like you and your friends. They are ordinary people, because WhatsApp is is a simple communication tool targeted to everyone. And that's why they keep doubling their user base.
  - Jare 13y ago
    The uproar in Spain about WhatsApp switching to $1 per year was huge, noisy and... emphemeral. Line got a lot of new signups for a few weeks, but the only person I know that still considers using Line today didn't even have WhatsApp back then (but, like everyone else, does have it now).
dba7dba 13y ago
KakaoTalk is big in S Korea. LINE is big in Japan. LINE has 300 million users, with 50 million in Japan. As far as I know, both are very profitable through sales of digital goods like stickers etc.

phn 13y ago

Remember that it's not only the J2ME actives that matter. The fact that you have access to all your friends wihtout exception inside the same app is killer, even if you have the latest iPhone. That's what made me return to WhatsApp in the first place. That, coupled with an apparently flawless experience.

Indyan 13y ago

It's not just the raw numbers. I would love to move onto Telegram, which is more secure, has an API, and works from a desktop. But, I can't. There are about five or six odd people in my life (professional or private) that I message frequently. Even if 1 out of them isn't on a particular messaging platform, I can't adopt that platform wholeheartedly. With Fb Messages, Hangouts and every other popular smartphone oriented messaging platform there would always be that one or two contacts that you regularly communicate with, who would be left out due to having an incompatible device. Whatsapp on the other hand works on pretty much every phone. When you want to replace something as prevalent as SMS, the long tail matters. There's another tangible benefit of focusing on so many platforms. Whatsapp, which doesn't spend much (if anything at all) on promotion, is prominently featured in the advertisements of many budget phones, as manufacturers see Whatsapp support as a strong selling point.

mkesper 13y ago
Use SMS.
- SyneRyder 13y ago
  Not when SMS costs 29c per message. The free global text messaging that Whatsapp provides is potentially very disruptive to telcos.
  - aleh 13y ago
    It's the same way around. If telcos drop SMS const or make them free few people will have initiative to use Whatsapp.

qwerta 13y ago

Yeah, all those people in India and Africa use latest Iphone :-)