WhatsApp Is Being Used By A Billion People

It’s official, WhatsApp is being used by a billion people every month, and the instant messaging app has hit an impressive milestone that places them further ahead of the pack. And Facebook saw it coming.

• WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion
• The service announced 900 million monthly active users 5 months ago
• WhatsApp sees to 42 billion messages, 1.6 billion photos, and 250 million videos shared
• Statistically, almost 1 in 7 people in the world are using WhatsApp

Back in 2014, Mark Zuckerberg’s company made a surprising purchase of WhatsApp for whopping $19 billion. It’s the biggest buyout known to date and has been a real head-scratcher for Silicon Valley. At that moment, the messaging service had 450 million monthly active users. However, Zuckerberg predicted the app will reach 1 billion users in the future.

Five months ago, WhatsApp hit 900 million monthly active users and it seemed to be edging closer to their target. The app connects people around the world, enabling messages, calls, photo shares, or sending videos. It has become the most popular messaging service, followed by another Facebook-owned app, Facebook Messenger. However, it wasn’t stopping there.

Recently, the company announced that they have dropped the $1 per year fee for WhatsApp. That meant that the service was completely free for the rest of the user’s life, which seems to have send it over the edge. While a few months ago WhatsApp was “nearing 1 billion”, CEO Jan Koum announced that they finally reached their major goal. Now, the app has 1 billion monthly active users, which means that almost 1 in 7 people around the world is using it. It’s officially beating out all its competition and winning the race by a land slide.

According to Koum, around 42 billion messages circulate on the app each day, along with 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos. Zuckerberg congratulated Koum and his team’s efforts, who have managed to double the user database for the app since acquiring it in September 2014. The impressive milestone was reached just 5 months after the company announced a 900 million monthly active users.

That means that they acquired new 100 million monthly active users in less than half a year. Perhaps the free subscription had something to do with it.

And it’s not showing signs of slowing down. According to Koum. After they’ve “added the ability to call your loved ones far away”, they are now looking to connect users with businesses. WhatsApp will soon enough create a connection between the average user and several establishments or organizations. This might include things such as being announced if a flight is delayed at an airport, making a dinner reservation, or other quick uses. Services that required putting in a phone call or an e-mail could be instant, all thanks to WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg once revealed his business strategy by stating that he has no interest in monetizing a service before it reaches 1 billion users. Well, now is the moment for WhatsApp.

If their current success is taken into account, then it’s likely that their goal will be achieved. However, that is an upcoming update and it remains to be seen if their ambitions will be, once again, reached.

Image source: 1-lw.xda-cdn.com