WhatsApp has seen unstoppable growth since it first launched back in 2009, and now boasts 800 million monthly active users.
The company’s co-founder Jan Koum revealed the staggering figure late last week on his Facebook page, highlighting impressive uptake of the messenger app.
It’s important to note that WhatsApp announced it had 700 million users back in January, so we’ve seen 100 million user-growth in just three months.
Prior to that, the company had 600 million users in August, which means 100 million in growth took about 5 months.
This means WhatsApp has actually grown quicker in the pass three months, which is impressive considering the already huge scale of the service.
This may be down to the fact that WhatsApp finally launched in-app internet calling last quarter, which likely boosted figures.
Related: WhatsApp Web: How does it work?
It’s worth noting that since April 2013 (WhatsApp had 200 million users at the time), the platform has gained 100 million users every four months.
If this growth can continue, we’d expect to see WhatsApp clock in at 1 billion users by the end of the year.
The company was acquired by Facebook back in February 2014. The social network shelled out $19 billion to buy out the messenger service.
The company had just 55 employees at the time, but now ranks as the world’s most popular messaging app, available across Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Nokia, and Symbian.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
