Bought by Facebook in 2014 for a sanity-warping $22bn dollars, WhatsApp was a curiosity in tech circles, a huge user base, but with very little room for capitalization, barring its nominal annual, one dollar fee. Until now, that is, as it’s been announced that WhatsApp will no longer be issuing its nominal charge.
Used by over 900 million individuals worldwide, the fee was barring the app from being used by those without credit card access and apparently that need to be the industry leader is worth sacrificing the cash injection the fee afforded them each year. Despite this, parent company Facebook maintains there will be no ads within the app, and more likely sponsored corporate accounts and broader commercial platforming. We will, for the moment, pretend we can imagine the business sense of giving up 900 million dollars each year, and weep into our spice bags while Whatsapping this story to friends.
