19 BILLION Dollars

Bozza · Feb 20, 2014

The reasons FB bought it are obvious:

- kids deserting FB in number - it's not as cool when Mum, Dad and Gran are on there

- FB having little stake in the growing private messaging area.

It's a defensive play, as was the take out of Instagram to ensure that no matter how people are communicating, they are doing it via a FB product.

This means FB continues to know more about you and is able to market to you more effectively.

$19bn though - that's one hell of a price!

Postman Pat · Feb 20, 2014

Brian Acton applied for a job at Facebook in 2009 and got rejected, they just paid $19bn for his work......doh!

beorhthelm · Feb 20, 2014

one has to consider the $15m non-cash component is magic money they conjured up. that's how they get away with it. though even $4b seem steep, even for 450m active users (funny, doubled from reports a few month), as there's no protection from interest disappearing to another platform next month.

CheeseRolls · Feb 20, 2014

Bozza said:
The reasons FB bought it are obvious:

- kids deserting FB in number - it's not as cool when Mum, Dad and Gran are on there

- FB having little stake in the growing private messaging area.

It's a defensive play, as was the take out of Instagram to ensure that no matter how people are communicating, they are doing it via a FB product.

This means FB continues to know more about you and is able to market to you more effectively.

$19bn though - that's one hell of a price!

Mobile and emerging markets.

The communication to shareholders consisted of three PowerPoint slides, which will surely set the teeth gnashing for anyone who has had to justify a replacement corporate laptop, or an expense anomaly of a couple of quid.

Westdene Seagull · Feb 20, 2014

Taybha said:
Please god , tell me im not the only person on the planet that does not know what a whats app is

No you're not - I had to look it up. As far as I can tell it's a replacement for texting - bizarre if you ask me.

Postman Pat · Feb 20, 2014

Westdene Seagull said:
No you're not - I had to look it up. As far as I can tell it's a replacement for texting - bizarre if you ask me.

It is sending texts for free (69p after 1 year).

My mate emigrated to Australia and we can still communicate by text message for nothing, rather than the hefty phone bill we would have both ended up with if we sent messages via mobile.

Similar impact that Skype had on phone calls.

CheeseRolls · Feb 20, 2014

Postman Pat said:
It is sending texts for free (69p after 1 year).

My mate emigrated to Australia and we can still communicate by text message for nothing, rather than the hefty phone bill we would have both ended up with if we sent messages via mobile.

Similar impact that Skype had on phone calls.

If you building a platform today, SMS would not be part of it. It made sense prior to the mobile web, but not anymore. Many countries actively discourage SMS via their pricing plans for this very reason, which is another reason, why messaging apps are so popular.

SeagullSongs · Feb 20, 2014

Taybha said:
Please god , tell me im not the only person on the planet that does not know what a whats app is

It's a texting replacement app. I bought the app for 99p last year so I haven't had to pay a penny since. Nowadays it's a free app but with a subscription of only 99p per year (I think).
Not only can you send texts for free, but you can send photos for free too, rather than pay the hefty price for MMS, and unlike snapchat (where the photo is hidden after a few seconds), so you can certainly see why it appeals to teenagers.

Westdene Seagull · Feb 20, 2014

Postman Pat said:
It is sending texts for free (69p after 1 year).

My mate emigrated to Australia and we can still communicate by text message for nothing, rather than the hefty phone bill we would have both ended up with if we sent messages via mobile.

Similar impact that Skype had on phone calls.

SeagullSongs said:
It's a texting replacement app. I bought the app for 99p last year so I haven't had to pay a penny since. Nowadays it's a free app but with a subscription of only 99p per year (I think).
Not only can you send texts for free, but you can send photos for free too, rather than pay the hefty price for MMS, and unlike snapchat (where the photo is hidden after a few seconds), so you can certainly see why it appeals to teenagers.

Which is all well and good if you wish to text someone abroad but most people have hundreds ( if not thousands ) of free texts included in their bundle. I'm not saying there's no place for the app just that I struggle to believe it's worth so much.

Taybha · Feb 20, 2014

Ah i see thankyou . Kinda like Viber then which i have but dont know anybody else that has it so its pretty useless at the moment .

Hamilton · Feb 20, 2014

SeagullSongs said:
It's a texting replacement app. I bought the app for 99p last year so I haven't had to pay a penny since. Nowadays it's a free app but with a subscription of only 99p per year (I think).
Not only can you send texts for free, but you can send photos for free too, rather than pay the hefty price for MMS, and unlike snapchat (where the photo is hidden after a few seconds), so you can certainly see why it appeals to teenagers.

Trouble is, most people are on bundled services that mean they can send unlimited texts already, and a fairly hefty amount of data. So, you're left thinking, so what? That's UK only.

I've deleted what's app today. I hate Facebook and all it stands for. I'm also enjoying the fact that Zuckerberg appears devoid of ideas and so he's doing what he has always done - buy other people's.

Hamilton · Feb 20, 2014

Taybha said:
Ah i see thankyou . Kinda like Viber then which i have but dont know anybody else that has it so its pretty useless at the moment .

I have that and don't use it either. I can give you a call if you like.

Taybha · Feb 20, 2014

Hamilton said:
I have that and don't use it either. I can give you a call if you like.

Im in a meeting at the mo ile get back to you later thanks

CheeseRolls · Feb 20, 2014

Westdene Seagull said:
Which is all well and good if you wish to text someone abroad but most people have hundreds ( if not thousands ) of free texts included in their bundle. I'm not saying there's not place for the app just that I struggle to believe it's worth so much.

Welcome to the global economy little Englander

- They have 450 million users, 70% actively use the app every day, adding 1 million new users per month. The platform is massive, even so the numbers are still astounding. They are paying the equivalent of $33 per user to acquire, when the service is currently charged at $1 per user per year, with the first year free.

pasty · Feb 20, 2014

Taybha said:
Please god , tell me im not the only person on the planet that does not know what a whats app is

Nope. I don't have a clue. But then I have neither a smart phone nor a tablet and am guessing a whats app relates to those sort of things?

CheeseRolls · Feb 20, 2014

Interesting rumours that google were prepared to pay $10 million for Whatsapp, but with no seat on the board. If there is any truth in the rumour, it suggests there is some value in this platform, even if it doesn't make money today. It also suggests that Facebook had to pay a hefty premium to seal the deal.

brakespear · Feb 20, 2014

Taybha said:
Please god , tell me im not the only person on the planet that does not know what a whats app is

Nope

albionalex · Feb 20, 2014

Facebook as a website is pretty dead, so it's not surprising they're venturing into other areas.

Stoo82 · Feb 20, 2014

Notters said:
Why on Earth is it worth that much? How does it even make money?

Don't you have to pay 19p a year to use it?

edna krabappel · Feb 20, 2014

Isn't sending a message or a photo via WhatsApp the same as sending an iMessage via an iPhone though?

I hardly ever use my phone text allowance, as any messages I send to people who have the iMessage function set up (which seems to be most of them) goes through that way, not as a text.

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