WhatsApp, the popular messaging service Facebook purchased last year, now has more than 900 million users — eclipsing services such as WeChat, Facebook Messenger and Line.
CEO Jan Koum revealed the new milestone on Facebook Thursday during a casually-worded check-in with his boss, Mark Zuckerberg.
Launched six years ago, WhatsApp lets users easily send text-based messages, send and receive calls, videos and pictures. Because it was free, WhatsApp soon earned a huge following.
Over the last two years, WhatsApp more than doubled its user base. Facebook also snagged the service for a dizzying $21.8 billion last year — despite the fact WhatsApp lost hundreds of millions of dollars in 2013 and 2014 combined.
What Facebook continues to bank on is WhatsApp’s future money-making potential. The service may not be profitable now, but the social network has a booming user base to build a business around.
Earlier this year, for example, Facebook chief financial officer David Wehner hinted WhatsApp might introduce new paid features, such as the ability for businesses to message consumerswith the service.
