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WhatsApp business development head Neeraj Arora has told AllThingsD that an earlier report claiming Google was on the verge of acquiring the company for $1 billion is not true. WhatsApp is the company behind the popular iOS app WhatsApp Messenger.
Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's business development head, told AllThingsDigital today that the company is not holding sales talks with Google.
Arora declined to comment further, but AllThingsD does note that WhatsApp has been the subject of sales rumors before, having been linked to Facebook in December. At the time, WhatsApp said that those reports were "not factually accurate."

whatsapp.png
WhatsApp Messenger has consistently been one of the top paid apps in the App Store in many countries around the world and is currently the #1 paid app in the U.S. store. It is one of the many messaging services, including Apple's own iMessage, available on iOS and other platforms that smartphone users have turned to in order to avoid carriers' SMS charges.

Recently, WhatsApp announced that it will be moving to a subscription model for the iOS version of its app by the end of this year. The model would likely be similar to existing WhatsApp pricing for other platforms, which would make the app free for the first year and then $0.99 per year beyond the initial free period.

Article Link: WhatsApp Denies Report of Talks Regarding Acquisition by Google
 

carl0sian

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2011
211
0
if there was a way to link whatsapp to my cellphone number...that would sell me on the app. so far, i don't even use it.....why use it when you have iMessage?
 

roxxette

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2011
1,507
0
if there was a way to link whatsapp to my cellphone number...that would sell me on the app. so far, i don't even use it.....why use it when you have iMessage?

But whatsapp links to your phone number :confused: ; why use it ? the major selling point is cross-plataform.
 

coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
6,987
9,571
Vancouver, BC
if there was a way to link whatsapp to my cellphone number...that would sell me on the app. so far, i don't even use it.....why use it when you have iMessage?

I suspect you had trouble setting up once and arrived at the wrong conclusion? Your phone number is required to set up WhatsApp. No way around that.
 

spicynujac

macrumors regular
May 24, 2012
243
69
This app requires a phone number (and therefore won't work with iPod touch, iPad, etc) which is a silly anachronism. IMessage is superior to anything I've seen, but not everyone has apple devices :) there is a need for a good messenger to message non-apple smartphone users.
 

henry72

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2009
1,521
911
New Zealand
There are SO MANY other great alternatives such as Facebook Messenger, Viber etc...

Of course, iMessage would be the best option for most of us ;)

So goodbye Whatsapp :)
 

SchneiderMan

macrumors G3
May 25, 2008
8,332
202
Saying the brand name sounds like you're a European trying to say "what's up?" only that it comes out with a thick accent :p

Hay, what's app deuddeh??
 

komodrone

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2011
499
0
weird, why would you deny a rumor like that? what if some other big company like samsung is looking to buy you. wouldn't you want that rumor to be true to drive up the price?
 

Freyqq

macrumors 601
Dec 13, 2004
4,038
181
weird, why would you deny a rumor like that? what if some other big company like samsung is looking to buy you. wouldn't you want that rumor to be true to drive up the price?

it would be a temporary gain, and when it doesn't sell in a reasonable amount of time, it'll just plummet.
 

frozzbite

macrumors regular
Mar 10, 2011
101
9
i was really hoping google would buy them out. Whatsapp has been really stagnant. No desktop app, no tablet apps. Not even more functions such as multiple photo selection in their apps.

They deserve to be bought out
 

Moccasin

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2011
1,005
220
Newcastle, UK
They may of course be denying that its being sold for $1 bn dollars. It could be that they are selling to Google, just for a different amount.

I may have been watching too much Yes Prime Minister recently; they used semantics like that rather often and to good comic effect.

The other mantra in YPM was not to believe anything until its officially denied...
 

Oletros

macrumors 603
Jul 27, 2009
6,002
60
Premià de Mar
They may of course be denying that its being sold for $1 bn dollars. It could be that they are selling to Google, just for a different amount.

I may have been watching too much Yes Prime Minister recently; they used semantics like that rather often and to good comic effect.

The other mantra in YPM was not to believe anything until its officially denied...

Well, the statement doesn't leaves much to semantics

WhatsApp's*business development head, told*AllThingsDigital*today that the company is not holding sales talks with Google.
 

anotherarunan

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2007
372
61
London, United Kingdom (UK)
The ignorance of so many Americans on the forum is astounding.

For whatever reason - Whatsapp isnt popular in the US - but almost everywhere else across the WORLD especially in more developing nations - Whatsapp is almost on every single smartphone and is a primary method of digital communication.

It is a fantastic app and can only get better hopefully. It does what it needs to do and does it very well. If it aint broke...
 

Boomhowler

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2008
324
19
Well, what's app and Google seem to have about the same notion about what user privacy is so it will probably be a good match :)
 
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