WhatsApp now has 900 million monthly active users

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum announced this morning that the messaging service has now reached 900 million monthly active users, which is actually kind of funny when you consider the fact that the Facebook-owned company still doesn’t have a business model. To be fair, monthly active users is a metric that doesn’t matter very much to messaging apps, but it’s still an impressive number nonetheless, and it means that Facebook controls a significant chunk of the market for messaging apps when you combine the WhatsApp numbers with Facebook Messenger’s. 

After Facebook announcing earlier this month that it witnessed one billion daily active users, it is now WhatsApp’s turn to share some usage figures. According to co-founder Jan Koum, the service now has 900 million active users, up from 800 million in the month of April. Acquired by Facebook last year for $19 billion, WhatsApp has seen its user base double over the course of the year, with India and Brazil representing key regions for the service. Other messaging services popular in emerging markets — such as Line, WeChat and Kakao — have leveraged some form of in-app purchases for monetization, offering stickers, emoticons and themes. WhatsApp, meanwhile, charges users an annual fee of $1, with customers in developing markets able to access the service for free. It is possible that we’ll see the service gaining integration with other services, becoming a platform for connecting brands with consumers. We’re already starting to see this in India, with several mainstream brands offering exclusive deals and discounts through WhatsApp. How many of you are active WhatsApp users?