The battle of ecosystems continues: The most stubborn can be dragged to Facebook through Whatsapp

At the weekend, there was information that Facebook is negotiating to buy a cross-platform mobile messenger Whatsapp , which many use as a more convenient and free SMS replacement . If the negotiations are really underway, and will be completed successfully - when Whatsapp becomes part of Facebook, then even those who did not want to open an account on Facebook can quickly find themselves there.

Whatsapp is for sale?

This quote from Techrunch became a catalyst for a wave of publications in which industry media began to discuss possible developments:

“WhatsApp, a cross-platform mobile messenger that has become the hero of numerous success stories due to the lack of advertising and paid services, is in the process of negotiating the purchase of Facebook, according to relevant parties.

Whatsapp is the absolute leader in its category in 114 countries, and is among the top five in 145 countries . The Dutch mobile operator KPN called WhatsApp the cause of the avalanche-like drop in SMS traffic on its network in early 2011. Since then, the volume of SMS traffic in some countries began to decrease exponentially. The annual decline in Spain was 25% last summer. In 2012, AT & T and Verizon included SMS traffic quotas in their monthly subscriptions, perhaps just because of the fear of SMS erosion that faces in 2013.
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In August, Whatsapp reported that it processes 10 billion messages daily . The popularity of the messenger is constantly growing, and at the moment it is estimated at 100 ... 200 million users (up to 500M according to Google Play)

WhatsApp is an example of a successful application, the popularity of which exceeds the counterpart from Apple, including geographically. Apple's iMessage is a good service, but when it managed to reach 300 billion messages, Whatsapp had already processed that amount in about a month.

WhatsApp managed to successfully crush competitors in Europe, North and Latin America. In Asia, he has worthy rivals like KakaoTalk and WeChat. Several European operators have already expressed their concerns about SMS erosion, caused, in their opinion, by three factors: WhatsApp, Facebook and iMessage.

A little bit later, Whatsapp commented on TechCrunch:

The TechCrunch article is a rumor, and contains factual errors.
At the moment we have nothing to add.

But after all, rumors rarely appear out of nowhere?

So who can buy whatsapp?

If Facebook really absorbs WhatsApp, then the resulting giant will take most of the growing mobile messaging market, and Facebook will get an excellent weapon against Google in the battle of ecosystems , because instant messages are Google’s Achilles heap that didn’t turn Gmail + Gtalk into a full-featured a platform for mobile communications (in terms of popularity - because only Gmail is popular).

Other alternatives for those who want to buy an instant messaging service may be Kakao Talk (65 million users), Line (75 million), Nimbuzz (100 million) and even Kik (30 million) .

People are much more willing to install Whatsapp than join Facebook, because it’s easier and Whatsapp doesn’t need to share their information with the world. If Whatsapp really becomes a part of Facebook, then one day such non-users may find themselves on Facebook against their will.

Meanwhile, the Android version of Facebook Messenger canceled the requirement for an FB account.

Perhaps a wave of rumor posts pushed Facebook to increase pressure in the fight against SMS. From today, wishing to use Facebook Messenger does not require a Facebook Account . Instead, you can simply use the mobile number and name - as in Whatsapp. Thus, the messenger can use those who do not have a Facebook account.

Is Whatsapp suitable for Google?

In my opinion, Whatsapp is much better suited to Google, because their messenger Gtalk although formally exists and works, but does not develop, and it is so noticeable that people ask questions: what plans does Google have for Gtalk?

What do you think?

photo: Noticia al dia .