[Closed] Whatsapp just bought for $16 billion

Presumably it's because people use whatsapp rather than FB's own messaging service

Yep, they don't want to lose [s]market share[/s] users (more than they are already).

oi!....it's on Android too 😉

I had noticed that they seemed to be pushing their own separate messaging service a lot recently.

At least we know that they'll willing to pay reasonable money if you come up with an idea that diverts a bit of FB traffic 😉

Just uninstalled it, so has the wife, as it asked for money to keep working. That's $1.20 they won't get. I think FB maybe got that one wrong. Were all about viber now.

Maybe STW should create a messaging app for middle aged IT professionals who drive Auidis and never ride bikes, then sell out to FB and retire to the Caribbean?

Great, won't me long before there's an update and we're required to be logged faceshit to use whatscrapp.

I've just read that they only employ 30 staff.

Bet they're all multi-millionaires now!

Good on them... Seriously jealous though.

nickjb - Member 
Just uninstalled it, so has the wife, as it asked for money to keep working. That's $1.20 they won't get. I think FB maybe got that one wrong. Were all about viber now.

It's always done that. Will worth the 80p or whatever it is IMO. A few mms picture messages avoided and it's paid for itself.

I just hope fb don't duck the app up by integrating fb into it or adverts

if they do

integrating fb into it or adverts

I don't want people on fb to message me all the time.

oh to be so popular...

There's something wrong somewhere when that much money gets spent on a messaging app.

It would be fine if there was a robust revenue stream that the value could be calculated against, but purchase like this seem to be based on acquiring market share and potential revenue, which seems crazy. Dot com bubble anyone? 🙂

Guardian reporting it's $19bn.

http://gu.com/p/3nv25/tw

I'm going to create a startup growing black tulips. I reckon it will be worth at least as much as that,

There's something wrong somewhere when that much money gets spent on a messaging app.

Isn't it just grotesque?

[IMG] [/IMG]

What's Facebook?

What's app?

Not been using it long and basically only between me and my wife. Loads of pictures of the kids during the day and a messaging option when we have WiFi but no mobile signal. Well worth the 69pa year it will cost after the first free year.

Hopefully the BBC quote will play out and it will continue unfettered by Facebook...

What's Facebook?

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Well worth the 69pa year it will cost

I don't think 69p is an unreasonable amount to charge for what you get.

I don't think 69p is an unreasonable amount to charge for what you get.

I think 69p is an absolute steal for the amount you get - when was the last time you had to send an SMS?

Still, at the first sign of Facebook integration (contacts being shared between platforms for example) I'll be getting rid of it.

Gross amount of money for a bit of tech that has a few million users.

Just gross.

Maybe the fact that people are willing to pay for a service they can get for free is why its worth $19b

Still, at the first sign of Facebook integration (contacts being shared between platforms for example) I'll be getting rid of it.

best delete it then. i installed it a couple of days ago and used my facebook profile to sign in.

Gross amount of money for a bit of tech that has a few million users.

More than "a few". 450 million. Quite a few 🙂

best delete it then. i installed it a couple of days ago and used my facebook profile to sign in

Really? Haven't had to use it here so far, it might be offered as a login option but I certainly haven't used it.

When is the FB bubble going to burst?

Who makes the decisions there? Its mental.

Gross amount of money for a bit of tech that has a few million users.

I agree it's a gross amount of money, but it's more than a few million users, closer to half a billion. More importantly, 310 million users use the app on a daily basis. It's a huge user base, especially if you're charging a quid or so a year to use it, plus other advertising revenue streams. It's also a way for FB to just eliminate a big competitor.

peterfile - Member

More than "a few". 450 million. Quite a few

I make that $35 ish per user if my maths is correct...Seems a bit rich!

I've definitely not given whatsapp $35.

I've been overvalued. It's a nice feeling.

I don't really get WhatsApp - doesn't everybody get unlimited texts these days anyway?

Some perspective - what I copied from Twitter

Netflix: $25.6B
Tesla: $23.7B
Macy's: $19.7B
WhatsApp: $19B
Whole Foods: $19B
Gap: $18.9B
Sony: $17.7B
United Airlines: $15.7B

Tesla is worth $24B - they only make 30000 cars per year

Bimbler - Member

I don't really get WhatsApp - doesn't everybody get unlimited texts these days anyway?

Basically it's a rip off of BBM, so compared to SMS/MMS it's faster, you get delivery receipts, you can attach pictures, sounds videos as easily as a normal message, better range of emoticons, really easy group chat, and it is cross platform. Also potentially cheaper if like me MMS are expensive.

Some perspective - what I copied from Twitter

Netflix: $25.6B
Tesla: $23.7B
Macy's: $19.7B
WhatsApp: $19B
Whole Foods: $19B
Gap: $18.9B
Sony: $17.7B
United Airlines: $15.7B

Tesla is worth $24B - they only make 30000 cars per year

Assuming those numbers are correct, it seems even more ludicrous. Those are companies who make actual stuff! As much as I like WhatsApp it is very simple, the only real thing they have going is the users and brand recognition.

Well for all those people wanting to remove it for encroaching in to your personal life etc. etc. then you might as well get rid of your phone altogether.

Even what's free now will become chargeable in due course. If you don't want facebook integration with your apps, then why have a facebook account?

All seems a bit tin foil hat IMO whilst missing the bigger picture.

doesn't everybody get unlimited texts these days anyway?

i think most 'unlimited' text packages charge for MMS.

400 million people use it a month, and 10 billion messages per day are sent. Almost all of thsoe users will have uploaded their entire address book to the site.

Maybe its our data thats so valuable?

i think most 'unlimited' text packages charge for MMS.

Which is why you can just use email, surely? As with text, most people have pretty much limitless email access on their phones these days, and when you factor in Skype (Free, with minimal ads), there's so many easy ways to get 'free' comms between people.

As above, though, some of these valuations in the .com world are getting very silly. Bubbles don't or can't always last long....

Viber is a battery killer btw. Whatsapp not so much

Tesla is worth $24B - they only make 30000 cars per year

....currently. I suspect a lot of that 'value' is in patents they hold for that elastic trickery they use for the cars, to be sold on when everyone else wants to make them too/when they become more mainstream and ramp up production.

I do wonder how some of these astronomical figures are arrived upon though.

CaptainFlashheart - Member

Which is why you can just use email, surely?

The difference is you don't need to know their email address, or add them like on facebook; simply having their number in your phone book allows you to message them.

simply having their number in your phone book allows you to message them.

How much harder is it to have someone's email address? Or their Skype address?

Have you used WhatsApp CFH?

I was very cynical before using it, with the same why not just email argument.

But it's just so damn simple even compared to email. Group chat is a piece of piss, images get hugely reduced in size so you barely use any data to send pics. It's actually really very good.

Have you used WhatsApp CFH?

I think the answer to that is almost certainly no.

I send loads of photos of my kids to wife and family using WhatsApp. I have never done this on email. The UI is excellent, so simple to use. The cost is a bargain.

How much harder is it to have someone's email address? Or their Skype address?

It's still extra information needed. More people will have someones mobile number, than email/skype.

I've not used it for months since I changed to an iPhone - iMessage does what I need it to do, without the need for a separate app.

iMessage does what I need it to do, without the need for a separate app.

everyone you want to text have an iphone?

Beauty of WhatsApp is it's cross platform, even stretching to some old Nokia S60 and even some S40 devices.

[url= http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-02/20/facebook-whatsapp ]Here's Wired's take on it[/url], seems a sensible move for them but still a huge amount of money

I installed What's App at the request of a friend who used it. He's the only one I use it for. I get a bit irritated and bewildered by the many many ways of communicating now: email, SMS, What's App, Skype, Facebook messaging, iMessage, Twitter etc...

SMS still has a place for me. There are plenty of locations near where I live where all these internet messaging services are rendered useless by a lack of any mobile internet.

I get a bit irritated and bewildered by the many many ways of communicating now

xkcd has that covered... https://xkcd.com/1254/

Just use Apple FaceTime video or audio.

I use WhatsApp, I may have even paid for it. $0.99 NZD for free, simple international sms/picture message/group messages? Bargain.

Cross-platform = win.

iPhone only applications can **** right off thanks. I'm not willing to exclude my mum/sister/mates or whoever because they don't have the right phone. Facetime can take a hike until I can install it on an android phone for my mum. etc. etc.

I was chatting to one of our apprentices about this - he's 17. His generation are walking away from Facebook, they think it's old hat. But they love WhatsApp, and we came to the conclusion that's why Facebook bought them...

Problem is, you can't just 'buy' customers like that. As soon as WhatsApp becomes passe, all that cash will have been wasted and they'll have to buy whatever new thing is the current fave, until that also becomes old hat.

Apps are really easy create and launch so their lifecycles are bound to be much quicker than other products or services - much easier for a new player to take all your customers.

This smacks of desperation to me...

[i]I don't really get WhatsApp - doesn't everybody get unlimited texts these days anyway?[/i]

In the UK maybe, but other countries differ.

tbh Valuations are usually based on the situation in the US, so if they are paying for SMS and therefore happy to pay a couple of dollars a week/month/year - then it's 'worth' X.

The Registers take on it was $45 for each users phone contacts which the App accesses automatically. You get some control of this 'feature' with Facebook and its privacy settings hence the grab for WhatsApp users.

[url= http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1965.html ]Nitrozac and Snaggy[/url] have it.

Snapchat is where it's at for da yoof.

Never been charged anything for using what's app and I had it since day 1....!?!?!?!? Never even had a message asking me to pay!?

I've been using whatsap for a few years (so I get it free) its very useful for international messages. However, $16bn is just staggering and it's hard to justify as anything other than a defensive move to prevent others getting a lead position innthe messaging market. I suppose the other fact is that people change their phone number rarely and so this is a way of locking onto a user. It's interesting facebook paid mainly in stock (says to me they don't have that much cash). I imagine fb will now start scanning messages for keywords to sell advertising.

Never been charged anything for using what's app and I had it since day 1....!?!?!?!? Never even had a message asking me to pay!?

The versions become defunct after a while and you need to upgrade.

CFH: chat is different to email. If I have a Whatsapp group with four people (riding buddies?)' each of who sends 4 messages in a conversation, I'd have to read 16 separate emails...or glance at one chat thread with sixteen bubbles. I also can't tell when email has been read and sending photos or emails requires opening an attachment in a separate thread.

Unlimited text messages are great...domestically, but I pay for international SMSes. Also, if I'm overseas and send an SMS, I get charged roaming fees...but if I send a whatsapp message thru wifi, it's free. And SMS doesn't allow me to have a group chat.

I've used whatsapp and never paid for it, tho. Who has?

I'll shift if it's too integrated with Facebook.

Whatsapp is a fantastic communication app and I'm stoked those guys got bought out and made a bunch of cash off of it. It's my most used app.

I have many groups with 4 - 8 - some in the teens full of people, it great being able to send an image into the group and everyone having it pushed to their device instantly. Or a video or voice note or whatever. Great app. Well worth the £0.99 for the year.

I just hope FB don't **** it up. If they do, they're always alternatives. The only reason Whatsapp is any good (or any social web/app) is because people use it. Someone posted here saying Viber is the better app - no it's not because no one uses it! The infrastructure may be there but If no one uses it....

Viber is good because of the call function. But you need a fast phone to run it. It crashes my rooted HTC desire most times I try to start it. Whatsapp just works and doesn't have a slow menu system.

If one of the phone OS people could come up with a native messages app that agreegated all of these different IM types messages in one app so that I was hidden from the complexity of it all then they would have my money in an instant.

A bit like with email where my iPhone has a single inbox but I have multiple email accounts.

Or where iMessage and SMS work in tandem so you don't have to worry about it.

That would be [s]awesome[/s] just sensible.

Recently paid my 89cents having had it for over a year. We don't get the same mobile deals here as you lot in the UK, so not much in the line of free SMS, although things are changing. So 5 messages not sent by SMS and it's paid for itself.

I work with teenagers and the ones using FB are a minority. Almost none have email addresses, many use twitter and almost all have either Whatsapp, Line, Kakao (or all if them).

I think whatsapp is ace. I use it loads for sending pics of our kiddies to relatives. It's less faff than an email IMHO.

Almost none have email addresses