 "WhatsApp executive dismisses idea of selling out to Facebook, Google")
Cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp does not have any plans to selling out to Facebook or Google, according to a new report from Money Control. The app, which currently processes up to 18 billion messages a day across 100 countries on 750 mobile networks, recently announced that it has over 20 million active users in India.
In an interview with the source, Neeraj Arora, the company’s Head of Business Development in India, dismissed the notion of the company being absorbed by either of the global giants. The executive, however, did not rule out the possibility of an acquisition by other companies, but said that the current team of 50 will be able to handle immediate challenges of innovation and scale.
While talking about the future of WhatsApp in the country, Arora said, “We started a partnership with Reliance almost a year back and it did phenomenally well. What we did with Reliance was a Rs 16 data plan per month. We gave them Rs 16 and your WhatsApp data becomes unlimited. So, people are very happy because they can send pictures, they have groups, whole day long they can stay connected to their family and friends on WhatsApp without having to think about how much I am spending.”
WhatsApp executive dismisses claims of a buyout by Facebook and Google
Deals with local carriers like the one the WhatsApp executive is talking about may be the key in the near future, given that the competition in the Indian market is increasing from Asian players like Line and WeChat. While the latter are promoting and advertising their apps heavily, Arora says that the WhatsApp will be avoiding endorsements and instead allow their new feature enhancements on the voice message, photo and video platforms speak for themselves.
When asked if the company was also looking at B2B as a potential market, the executive said, “I have seen so many shopkeepers, so many small business using WhatsApp, sales team being managed with groups on WhatsApp. So, we are giving them a tool as it is today. We are not building something special for them and for what it is today it is pretty useful for them. We take more feedback, we will see if it makes sense for us in the future when we have a bigger team versus bigger sales. We don’t have a sales team for example today at WhatsApp, there is no sales team. How do you build a B2B business without a sales team?”
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