http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/19/us-whatsapp-facebook-idUSBREA1I26B20140219 Aol screwed up. They had AIM. Whatsapp goes for 16bil?
A lot of people do. Particularly people in other countries that dont have unlimited instant messaging (or people who like to message to other countries)
More importantly, has this company ever turned a profit? It just strikes me as odd that an app that will probably be gone in a couple of years can be worth more than a company like, say, Fiat, that sells hard assets for real profit. All their users could literally disappear in a year and leave them with nothing to show for it. If people stopped buying Fiats, they'd at least still have factories they could sell.
Everyone and I mean everyone in Spain uses it since the mobile phone companies don't have unlimited text. I use it all the time to communicate when I'm over there with my phone.
these are the same people who offered $3 billion for Snapchat, which has no monetization at all and is probably a passing fad.
zerohedge: Whatsapp is now bigger than Southwest Airlines, Tyson Foods, Ross Stores, Alliance Data, Motorola Solutions or Starwood Hotels
I do to contact my peeps in Venezuela and Mexico. Why does Facebook need the app? Don't they already have it built in with their messaging system?....
Seems you US guys undervalue this. I live in Germany and it's as Reeko says, everyone uses this. Same with people in UK I know. Unlimited texting is pretty expensive with our providers, the vast majority uses whatsapp.
They don't need it. They will get all their users to download their instant messenger. It's pocket change for them at 16B.
The money will come with so many users. I normally wouldn't say that if it was just some fad but this app is actually very useful. I use it with coworker, friends, and family abroad. I'll admit there are others like it, but the same can be said for Facebook itself.