WhatsApp hits 500 million users following boost in India and emerging markets

Saqib Shah

April 23, 2014

WhatsApp’s user base continues to grow following its acquisition by Facebook for $19 billion.

The messaging app has now revealed that it has 500 million active users, up 50 million from the time the social network snapped it up.

According to WhatsApp CEO Jan Kuom, the app has seen the fastest growth in Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia in recent months.

Elaborating on the Indian figures, WhatsApp’s Neeraj Arora tells BGR India that it now has 48 million monthly active users in the country – that’s almost double the 25 million it had in India just over five months ago.

Kuom didn’t mention whether the buyout helped boost WhatsApp’s influence in those regions, but it’s worth noting that Brazil, India and Mexico also had some of the biggest Facebook user numbers in 2013, according to analysts.

Kuom also mentioned that people have been sharing over 700 million photos and 100 million videos per day over the app. This follows the recent news that a record breaking 64 billion messages were sent through the app in just one day.

Source 1 | 2

About the Author

Saqib Shah

Tech/gaming journalist for What Mobile magazine and website. Interests include film, digital media and foreign affairs.

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