Whats Up with WhatsApp !!!

Smartphone with an internet connection can make you take advantage of a mounting variety of downloadable apps, that allow you to send and receive messages,without incurring carrier charges.

Free text messages are not a big deal for smart phone users. In fact, the network providing companies have been sobbing and grudging about ruining the competition, and they’re even considering giving upon the old charge per usage plans that have long been an industry’s cash flow.

One such app is “WhatsApp”.

WhatsApp was built to be a “better SMS alternative”, according to the company’s website. WhatsApp uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and browsing.No wonder, if you have downloaded the WhatsApp application for free on your smart phone and you didn't have to pay any fee for that. You may be completely addicted to it, just like FB. What will happen after a year of free subscription?

To go on with the usage of app you have to pay them a subscription fee. May be 0.99$ for a year. It is less than a dollar, so most of us wouldn't mind. But when we see the stats, we can know the usage and users of WhatsApp.

Recapitulating the details of a recent Forbes.com post, WhatsApp is worth the price tag, to which it was quoted because: it will help the social network grow globally, it is the new SMS, and it will be desired by other companies and it “is the only app we've ever seen with higher engagement than Facebook itself,” according to Mark Zuckerberg.

Let’s have a look at the transaction on a basic level. WhatsApp sold for $19 billion. A few pages of codes, that is said to be an application on ur smart phone was bought for such a huge amount. Many of us give a thought like what all could we buy in $19 billion.

One can own all the Indian Premier League cricket teams. If you’re a football fan, it will make ur eyebrows raise along with goosebumps, because in that amount you can own franchise of Manchester United and Real Madrid together. Isn’t it Awesome???

But how does an app make money?

Just like other products, apps earn money when they are purchased. $.99 per purchase might not sound like a bulky wallet, but it adds up( angry Birds sells for $.99,). Then of course you look at an app like minecraft:pocket edition that sells for $6.99 and made $1 million in iOS app store revenue – on Christmas day alone.

The “freemium” model: even apps that are free to download make money. This freemium model allows users to download the app for free, but will then charge for extra features, lives, power-ups and other in-game resources. The trial-free versions attract you and your addiction is the prime factor for their source of income. When you upgrade the full version with a respective money value, it goes on adding up the revenue for the company.

  

Advertisements: you’ve probably noticed advertisements on your favorite apps. Just like ads in magazines, on TV etc., companies pay for their products and services to be seen with mobile apps.

 WhatsApp earns $.99 per download on iOS and $.99 per year on other platforms. Even with a hefty user base, the company’s revenue might only be hundreds of millions of dollars. There is an immense, unfilled gap between hundreds of millions and $19 billion.

With 500 million users, comes an enormous opportunity for growth. The future forecasts and keeping the “most addicted app” out of the hands of the competitors, makes one of the most remarkable take over, commendable for the Facebook.