In 2014, one of the most shocking news in the world of technology was the purchase of WhatsApp by Facebook, after this, the Zuckerberg’s company offered $19 billion to Whatsapp Co-founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum, However, before that Zuckerberg arrived with this millionaire offer, WhatsApp had already been sold to a Chinese company, then what happened next; we tell you the story.
It all started when Tencent, which is a popular Chinese videogame, advertising, and Internet services company, decided that WhatsApp was the definitive application, It needed to conquer the world market because at that time WhatsApp was already starting to be placed as the ultimate messaging application in various parts of the planet.
At that time, “WeChat” was the messaging application developed by Tencent, so buying WhatsApp, the company would have no rival in the market, and thus, could be the leader of this segment worldwide.
However, when one of Tencent’s co-founders, known as Pony Ma, had reached an agreement with Acton and Koum, the only thing left to close the purchase was a meeting in Mountain View to give some signatures, hugs, and close the purchase.
The amount that Tencent was going to pay for WhatsApp was never revealed, however, due to a back problem, Pony had to undergo surgery, so he had to delay his meeting with the co-founders of WhatsApp.
When Zuckerberg found out about this situation, he knew that it was his opportunity to counteroffer since, from the beginning, Facebook had been with Google, one of the big companies interested in acquiring WhatsApp.
On the days when Pony Ma was in recovery, Zuckerberg met with Acton and Koum and offered to buy the application for $19 billion, in addition to both being board members.
However, they were not the only promises, as Zuckerberg had mentioned that WhatsApp would not be used to use user data on Facebook, although that story changed over time.
According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg’s $19 billion offer far exceeded that of Tencent, so the co-founders of the messaging application decided to sell it to Mark Zuckerberg.
What happened next- we already know, both Acton and Koum left the company, more years and later due to disagreements with Zuckerberg, and Facebook took over one of the most critical applications of the last century.
After reading this, I think you would realize why Facebook bought WhatsApp? Of course, the reason was the WhatsApp’s continuous increasing popularity among users over Facebook. There may be other reasons for buying WhatsApp, in my opinion. Read it in the next section.
Why Facebook Bought Whatsapp? Some Actual Reasons!
- If we talk about growth, WhatsApp is a rocket. The graphic made public by Facebook itself says it all. The messaging application reached 419 million users in its first four years. Only nine months ago, the application only had 200 million users. Its growth rate is 73% in a sector, that of telecommunications, where the average is around 10 or 20%, and where you can be considered a case of resounding success if you reach 50% growth.
- Without a doubt, WhatsApp is an alternative to Facebook because it offers advanced privacy. And also, because in its first four years, it added more users than Facebook itself. Then, it was an imminent danger to its permanence.
- As is known, WhatsApp has a strong international presence, particularly in Europe, India, and Latin America. Those are regions where Facebook is trying to increase its user base.
- But WhatsApp is not only the exponent of a growing market. It is the foremost example of a trend that worried a lot within Facebook: the leap of new generations to mobile messaging as a substitute for traditional social networks. The age of Facebook users goes up, and many teenagers don’t want to be in the same chat room where their parents are.
Coming on the topic, “Messenger was a failed attempt to replace WhatsApp by Facebook.” Actually, the real reason behind the less success of messenger is not revealed yet, but after reading some points given below about WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger; You will be able to understand the reason behind “Why messenger was failed attempt to replace WhatsApp”?
WhatsApp vs. Facebook Messenger
- As we told you above that “many teenagers, don’t want to be in the same chat platform where their parents are” is one of the big reasons.
- WhatsApp assures more privacy than Facebook Messenger.
- WhatsApp was and is and will be advertising free.
- While both have very similar options; between gifs, video, photo, and audio, we know that, for example; In the case of Facebook Messenger, the audio recording quality is not very good.
- WhatsApp is more customizable in saving the conversation, as it allows uploading archived conversations to Google Drive or iCloud and even sending them via email. In the case of Facebook Messenger, it is limited to saving the conversation on its servers.
Now, I’m sure that you have understood that messenger was a failed attempt to replace WhatsApp and why Facebook bought WhatsApp? But, Will we see advertising notices on WhatsApp? Will this service be integrated into Facebook Messenger, or will a new platform be born? There are several doubts that are still in the air.
