Facebook’s future path has been a topic of uncertainty for many since its inception, but that doesn’t stop them from making some big purchases.
2014 has been a big year for acquisitions. Google kicked the year off with its acquisition of Nest, followed shortly by Google’s sale of Motorola to Lenovo, and now it’s announced that Facebook plans to buy WhatsApp in a deal that totals out around $19 billion, or 19 Instagrams.
WhatsApp is a messaging service that many people use in lieu of their carrier’s text messaging service, since WhatsApp sends messages over the data network, which avoids any carrier charges and allows users to text internationally without the use of an international texting plan, very similar to e-mail, but through a text messaging interface.
The company reports it has 320 million active daily users, so it only makes sense that Facebook would want to bring them into the fold. Facebook isn’t the only one interested in WhatsApp, though. It’s rumored that Google offered $10 billion to the messaging service, which wisely held out for double from Facebook.
This acquisition will go a long way to enhancing Facebook’s robust communications services already in place. Pending a couple features such as cloud storage and a more robust calendar, Facebook could begin going toe to toe with Google, Apple, and Microsoft in cloud ecosystems.
Facebook still lacks proper hardware support, which its competitors have either through in-house manufacturing, or through OEM parnerships. The Facebook Home imbued HTC First is largely considered a flop despite a relatively warm critical reception, although much of the positivity regarding the phone should be attributed to HTC. It was the hardware, not so much the software that people appreciated with that phone.
Facebook Home is a service that is primed to be layered over Android phones, though, so we may be able to anticipate some more Facebook mobile news cropping up in the next few years with more Facebook centric devices.
Source: Business Insider
Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter
Read more on Walyou, New Samsung Deal May Rock Blackberry’s Boat, New Google Services Certification to Reduce Fragmentation
