Facebook to buy Whatsapp for $16billion

White Heart Loon

Just announced. My guess is they saw it as a huge threat, 16 billion is ridiculous, Instagram only cost them 1billion

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/19/us-whatsapp-facebook-idUSBREA1I26B20140219

pizzahead77

Seriously overvalued considering that Viber is only worth $900 million

coldfire1x

FFS... now they are going to screw it up.

White Heart Loon

Other thread in Comp/Tech says it works out at $40 per Whatsapp user, that's ridiculous.

Amirani

This could turn out to be a big mistake. That's a crazy amount to pay for what WhatsApp actually is.

vcshqkf9rpzgoe

They do know they can download it for free?

White Heart Loon

Darrell Wooden Self-reliance wrote: »

They do know they can download it for free?

It's only free for the first year

Zaph

White Heart Loon wrote: »

It's only free for the first year

In theory, but I've had it several years and have never been charged. In fact my free period was extended for another year recently.

NinjaTruncs

WhatsApp must have some dirt Zuckerberg, it's crazy paying that much for a free to use app. Once they start charging for it users will just switch to a different app.

hfallada

You have to look at the fact people are using facebook less and less. Most my friends use whatsapp to chat instead of FB. I can imagine whatapp being filled with ads. By buying whatsapp, FB ensures it doesnt lose customers due to it being less popular

Viber is like the windows 95 of chatting aps

philthrill69

Looks like a lot more people will be using
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.telegram.messenger now that Zuckerberg is gonna suck the life out of whatsapp.

BionicRasher

Just talking to my 15 yr old daughter and she says none of her friends use Whatsapp they all use FB Chat or have switched to Hangouts and this new one which has become really popular
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oovoo

geckovision

Always preferred BBM.

16 billion sounds like crazy money. FB are desperate.

Thankfully that Android skin of there's never really took off. Terrible idea.

White Heart Loon

BionicRasher wrote: »

Just talking to my 15 yr old daughter and she says none of her friends use Whatsapp they all use FB Chat or have switched to Hangouts and this new one which has become really popular
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oovoo

Wait till next year, they'll change again. My 16yo daughter dropped FB chat for Whatsapp, swings and roundabouts at that age. 450 million users says they're doing something right

sebastianlieken

I think we should all switch to using Viber exclusively the day that Facebook pays 16 billion squids for Whatsapp.

White Heart Loon

sebastianlieken wrote: »

I think we should all switch to using Viber exclusively the day that Facebook pays 16 billion squids for Whatsapp.

Viber fails at photo sharing and messaging when offline, these are reasons whatsapp is doing so well

MBSnr

White Heart Loon wrote: »

Viber fails at photo sharing and messaging when offline, these are reasons whatsapp is doing so well

Not sure what you mean here? Viber sends any messages from my phone as soon as I go on line and likewise, I receive queued messages once on line.

Vinz Mesrine

Does nobody else use Line?

White Heart Loon

MBSnr wrote: »

Not sure what you mean here? Viber sends any messages from my phone as soon as I go on line and likewise, I receive queued messages once on line.

Viber has always had a habit of losing them

corsav6

White Heart Loon wrote: »

Viber has always had a habit of losing them

Viber seems to work grand for me when on WiFi but on data it can be a bit hit or miss.

B_Rabbit

How much would they make with ads on it though?

MBSnr

White Heart Loon wrote: »

Viber has always had a habit of losing them

Fair enough. I mostly use it on WiFi so haven't noticed any issues.

White Heart Loon

MBSnr wrote: »

Fair enough. I mostly use it on WiFi so haven't noticed any issues.

It's flawless on WiFi, poor on mobile data

Dudda

Crazy money. Far too much.

Anyone else think Facebook is a tiny bit worried by Hangouts? It's the default SMS app on Android KitKat and anyone who has the Nexus 5 will tell you it's actually a bit of effort not to use it. While most Boards.ie members and young techie kids can, I think both my parents, my brother and girlfriend would struggle to change the default SMS app. Rumour is Google is making all manufactures use the latest OS in new phones within a 9 month window. With over a billion Android phones due to be sold this year even if only a quarter of them use Hangouts that's loads. Like iMessage on the iPhone they may not even realise they are using it.

J_E

If they mess it up I'm switching exclusively to Viber. I am just gutted knowing Facebook are going to be owning this app at all. Can't get away from them. This is terrible news.

beardo81

Just another way to get personal data and info on people, they can crawl the messages similar to the way Google does with gmail. Another way to advertise to the user, if not directly through the app then some other way.

Also, it's not 16 billion cash, a lot of Facebook shares in the deal too, overall worth is far far lower

scudzilla

beardo81 wrote: »

Just another way to get personal data and info on people, they can crawl the messages similar to the way Google does with gmail. Another way to advertise to the user, if not directly through the app then some other way.

Also, it's not 16 billion cash, a lot of Facebook shares in the deal too, overall worth is far far lower

But where did these $12billion in shares pop up from? Did they just photocopy some more :rolleyes:

Something stinks here

mooseknunkle

beardo81 wrote: »

Just another way to get personal data and info on people, they can crawl the messages similar to the way Google does with gmail. Another way to advertise to the user, if not directly through the app then some other way.

Also, it's not 16 billion cash, a lot of Facebook shares in the deal too, overall worth is far far lower

Its 4 billion cash and 12 billion in stocks,the overall price will eventually rise to 19 billion as another 3 billion stocks will be shared amongst the employees of whatsapp.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/127378-facebook-buys-whatsapp-messaging-service-for-more-than-16-billion

beardo81

Whatsapp is down now, server issues. Better check the receipt for that 16 billion eh Mark?

Amirani

scudzilla wrote: »

But where did these $12billion in shares pop up from? Did they just photocopy some more :rolleyes:

Something stinks here

Facebook can issue new shares whenever they want.

Chazz Michael Michaels

How is Yahoo messenger doing?