Mobile cross-platform messaging service Whatsapp boasted 600 million users in August. A mere four months later, it has hit the 700 million user mark. Acquired by Facebook for $22 billion in October 2014, Whatsapp now has the highest usership of any app in its messaging category, including Facebook’s Messenger.
Whatsapp CEO Jan Koum addressed Whatsapp users in a Facebook post on January 6: “Today, we’re thrilled to share that WhatsApp has more than 700 million monthly active users. Additionally, every day our users now send over 30 billion messages.”
Currently, the app offers users a free year before implementing an annual $0.99 charge. Since its acquisition, Whatsapp has scaled back efforts to make money; according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this could change once the application hits 1 billion users, a feat that appears to be fast approaching.
Due to unlimited SMS plans in the U.S., messaging applications haven’t seen the same success in the region as internationally. While Whatsapp is the leading global messenger app, it still has regional competition in the form of widespread apps like WeChat in China, KakaoTalk in South Korea, and Line in Japan.
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