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Facebook’s WhatsApp hits 900 million monthly worldwide users

Messaging app WhatsApp keeps growing more popular with users each month. The Facebook-owned app, which is used by people around the world to send texts without paying carrier fees, now has more than 900 million monthly active users, according to a Facebook post by WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum. The numbers reinforce Facebook’s global dominance over social apps. Founded in 2009, WhatsApp started life as a basic text-messaging app but has recently rolled out new features like voice calling as well as its Web app.

Congrats to Jan, the WhatsApp team and whole community on reaching 900 million people!

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

The app, which operates on just about every mobile platform, is often used to message abroad for free. While WhatsApp still lacks any sort of business model, Facebook is likely happy to remain patient on that front. Smartphone owners spend more time in messaging apps than any other apps, which makes them valuable real estate. And given Facebook’s ambitions to turn its own Messenger into a tool for commerce, owning the competition outright ensures it stays relevant.

The right strategy is to first focus on connecting 1 billion-plus people and reaching the full potential before very aggressively turning them into businesses.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg