Today WhatsApp has announced that its messaging app is now actively used by 500 million people on the planet. And those are all described as “regular, active” users, another sign of the company’s soaring growth — and the loyalty of its community. In February, Facebook announced plans to acquire WhatsApp, for over $19 billion and by that time they were only 50,000 subscribers less the current number reported today. The countries that have contributed greatly to this current growth include Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, according to WhatsApp blog.From an interview on Ugo Uganda, our Editor in Chief on Techjaja Roger Bambino was asked about his thoughts on the speed of the growth of WhatApp after the acquisition and it seems he was spot on, he said,
As for the number of WhatApp subscribers increasing after the Facebook purchase, my answer is a definate YES.
This is how I look at it Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and the growth rate of instagram has been steady at 80% throughout last year. Despite people’s concerns with Facebook I guess its all about the service you offer, if people love it they will use it and the numbers don’t lie. The trick is for Facebook to keep the two apps separate with minimum interference just like they do with instagram.
This new milestone is significant since it’s halfway to the “target that Mark Zuckerberg mentioned when announcing the massive buyout. The Facebook CEO wants to connect 1 billion people and he admitted that it’s the only app that has a higher engagement than Facebook itself. The speedy and steady growth that WhatsApp has enjoyed since launch is seen as a major factor in Facebook’s decision to spend billions in cash and stock for the company.
According to JanKoum the WhatsApp founder, he said that
SOURCE“Our users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day. But it appears his team won’t be taking much time to celebrate, Here at WhatsApp, we’re just getting started.”
