Whatsapp CEO Jan Koum, speaking at AllThingsD‘s mobile conference overnight, wouldn’t talk about specific figures when it comes to usage, but he confirmed that the mobile messaging service has topped Twitter’s usage. Twitter declared in December that it had exceeded 200 million monthly users.
WhatsApp boasts an average of 8 billion inbound messages and 12 billion outbound messages a day, he said.
Koum also addressed the rumours that WhatsApp would be acquired, reiterating that the company wants to remain independent, and doesn’t really think about acquisition as an exit strategy.
Our goal is to build a sustainable, independent company,” he said. “We want to build a business.
WhatsApp was rumoured to be in talks to be acquired by Google for US$1 billion, but denied the discussions.
Koum asked the blogosphere to be “more responsible in their reporting”.
The company’s goal, Koum reiterated, is to not make money off advertisements. He said that with something as personal as a smartphone, it didn’t feel right to insert ads into its service. Instead, WhatsApp is slowly introducing a business model in which users pay US$0.99 a year.
Charging for the app hasn’t resulted in a drop off in the service, Koum said, noting that the network effect has helped drive adoption.
While WhatsApp could be seen as a company eating away at the carriers’ lucrative text-messaging revenue, Koum said that the carriers have turned around, and see his business as one driving data adoption. For some carriers, the text-messaging issue has gone away as they focused on driving more data usage.
WhatsApp, Koum said, has participated in a number of carrier partnerships that further drive adoption and usage, including local data deals in India and access to a “roaming pass” with a partner in Hong Kong, allowing users to travel elsewhere in Asia and still use WhatsApp without extra fees.
Koum said that he wants to focus on messaging as the core service, and said he doesn’t want to turn WhatsApp into a platform business. A platform requires games, advertising and other elements that the company doesn’t want to get into, he said.
WhatsApp isn’t the only company in the messaging game. Heavy hitters such as Google, Facebook and Apple have all introduced their own messaging applications. But Koum said that its business model differentiates WhatsApp from the pack, and that of all of these companies, only WhatsApp completely focuses on messaging.
“Mobile and messaging is the only thing we do,” he said. “It’s in our heart and in our blood and DNA.”
I was actually fooled and scammed over ( $753,000 ) by someone I trusted with my funds through a transaction we did and I feel so disappointed and hurt knowing that someone can steal from you without remorse after trusting them, so I started searching for help legally to recover my stolen funds and came across a lot of Testimonials about Mr. Morris Gray, an agent who helps in recovery lost funds, which I can tell has helped so many people who had contacted him regarding such issues and without a questionable doubt their funds was returned back to their wallet in a very short space of time, it took the expert 48hours to help me recover my funds and the best part of it all was that the scammers was actually located and arrested by local authorities in his region which was very relieving. Hope this helps as many people who have lost their hard earn money to scammers out of trust, you can reach him through the link below for help to recover your scammed funds and thank me later.
Email Address: MorrisGray830 AT Gmail DOT com
All thanks to Mr Donaldcyberlord for helping with my profits and making my fifth withdrawal possible. I’m here to share an amazing life changing opportunity with you. its called Bitcoin / Forex trading options. it is a highly lucrative business which can earn you as much as $2,570 in a week from an initial investment of just $200. I am living proof of this great business opportunity. If anyone is interested in trading on bitcoin or any cryptocurrency and want a successful trade without losing notify Mr Donaldcyberlord now.Whatsapp: ( +49 1512 4836801) Email:Donaldcyberlord @gmail.com
Whatsapp is very fast software