WhatsApp, the popular messaging service that’s worth $19 billion has stated that it will be dropping its $1 annual fee. Now users will not be bothered with the subscription screen that they usually saw when they first sign up for the service on new phones.
The announcement was made during this year’s DLD conference by Whatsapp founder Jan Koum, as part of its move to remain the dominant instant messaging platform that works side-by-side with its parent Facebook, the world’s foremost social media giant.
Whatsapp Founder Explains Why He Removed The Subscription Fee
Jan Koum stated that regions where smartphone users do not have access to payment cards still exist and due to this limitation, these users won’t be able to enjoy the service if subscription fees come into the equation. This move is great news for the service’s users in developing markets, since they make up the major share of its users.
The changes will start taking place from today. However, people who previously subscribed to it won’t be offered a refund. Furthermore, Whatsapp will not display any ads for users as well, following the recent announcement to drop the annual fee.
With the Whatsapp devs currently working on a video calling feature, its no wonder that competitors are worried about WhatsApp’s continued dominance over the messaging market. Do you think that Skype and Tango and other similar video conferencing services are under threat from Whatsapp’s upcoming cross-platform video messaging feature?
Chalo acha hai.. fee zaida nai the but procedure to pay jo tha wo boat difficult tha q k har koi credit card wala tuh nai hai.. aaj kal tuh har ghreeb ammer WhatsApp use kar ra tha..
As soon as Textra provides Voice Calls, I’m leaving Whatsapp for good. I need my security!
is it good ?
also , what security does Textra offer over WhatsApp ?!
Wadday aap president sb that needs cyber security.
Bary funny ho yar tum.
pagal ho kya?
textra is an SMS app, not online message and calls app like WhatsApp or Skype.
I meant Telegram, instead I wrote Textra because I think I was using it that time. My bad. Thanks for correction.
And No Need to show your manners to everyone.
Wow…Great News… Good News for a lot of pakistanis (without creditcard)
What will be their source of earning then??
According to our speculation, the revenue generation for Whatsapp is primarily through database management. All the conversations on Whatsapp are backed up on Whatsapp servers constantly. Our conversations reflect our interests, likes, dislikes and majorly depicts our preferences. This information is invaluable to big firms where relevant tailor made products can be offered after data sorting.
– Edupristine
Our data.
Did any one from Pakistan actually pay for Whatsapp? Almost all of my friends have been using Whatsapp for longer than a year but did’nt need to pay any money.
Whatever, its a good initiative.
Lol yes it automatically used to extend the deal for me at the end of the subscription time frame just like Pathan salesman.
Yesterday I got lifetime subscription then late night it’s extended to 1 year but again today got lifetime, isn’t it funny?
data jama kar k bech dati hia,,, 1$ is peanut,,, hamara data e yeh 1$ say zada ka bech detay hia,