Google Close to Acquiring WhatsApp for $1 Billion? - MacRumors
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Google Close to Acquiring WhatsApp for $1 Billion?

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Digital Trends reports that Google is on the verge of acquiring WhatsApp, the company behind the popular cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp Messenger.

While the deal started four or five weeks ago, we’ve been told that WhatsApp is “playing hardball” and jockeying for a higher acquisition price, which currently is “close to” $1 billion right now.

WhatsApp Messenger is currently a $0.99 app in the App Store, but the company has announced that it will be shifting to a subscription model later this year under which the app would likely be free for the first year and $0.99/year thereafter. The subscription model is already in use on the company's Android and Windows Phone apps.

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WhatsApp Messenger consistently ranks at or near the top of Apple's charts for Top Paid apps in countries around the world, and is in fact currently in the #1 position in the U.S. App Store.

The service is one of many messaging services available on iOS and other mobile platforms, including Apple's own iMessage service integrated into iOS and OS X. Such services have become increasingly popular as users seek to avoid mobile carriers' SMS charges and expand their conversations to include devices not directly connected to cellular service.

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Top Rated Comments

martygras9 Avatar
martygras9
176 months ago
Between Verizon offering unlimited text messages and Apple's iMessage, I'm just not seeing the need for this app on my phone.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacsRgr8 Avatar
MacsRgr8
176 months ago
Say hello to tons of ads on WhatsApp
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Trakya Avatar
Trakya
176 months ago
This would change everything.

A billion dollars for an instant messaging app? How could it POSSIBLY be worth that when so many of them exist and how easy they are to make.
It's the amount of users making it worth.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnnnw Avatar
johnnnw
176 months ago
A billion dollars for an instant messaging app? How could it POSSIBLY be worth that when so many of them exist and how easy they are to make.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
Porco
176 months ago
I was hoping for a Mac OS X version you can easily access from the row of icons at the bottom of the screen. It would have a new icon in the shape of a cartoon rabbit and be called 'WhatsAppDock'.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
somethingelsefl Avatar
somethingelsefl
176 months ago
Apple pays $200 million (estimated) for Siri based on "functionality potential". Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion and Google's rumored to bid $1 billion for a messaging app based on "amount of users." See the difference?

Basically Google and Facebook want to buy you as a product. Apple wants you to buy their products. This is a huge paradigm difference in the tech industry, and one (of many) reason why I purchase Apple products.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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