Facebook Hugs WhatsApp: Peoples' view

Sourabh Jain, Entrepreneur

Good for Facebook, but it can create problems for users as, WhatsApp will not be an ad-free app anymore (sic). The end users of WhatsApp will suffer, but Facebook is bound to increase its business. Facebook just recently started business ads, so these ads are bound to pop up in WhatsApp (sic). The freedom that users were enjoying with WhatsApp, we fear that it will end soon. At present ,WhatsApp has a free as well as paid model and Facebook will scrap the free model very soon. The WhatsApp messaging service will be soon linked with Facebook accounts (sic). It is one of the biggest acquisition in the market, where Facebook has paid a lot, which it is sure to recover by monetizing the service very soon. How Facebook will monetize WhatsApp, is something we have to wait.  

Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies
This is a landmark acquisition for Facebook, even as it struggles to justify its own high valuations, which are outlandish by any conventional standards. While WhatsApp has been one of the best scaling stories in the recent past, adding a million users every day ( including yours truly a couple of months ago!), the deal values each user at forty dollars, which is a high price to pay for acquiring a larger space in the internet landscape. One could argue that valuations in this sector are based on unprecedented growth projections and the benchmark is Facebook’s own valuation of nearly $200 billion and China’s Tencent valued at close to $150 billion. WhatsApp users have nothing to worry about in the short term. Facebook will invest in the platform and maintain relative independence, but the real question to ask is how the user will be tied to the Facebook family of products and service in future.

Ishaan Kulkarni, Senior Officer, Automtiv Service Solutions

I find it as a complete strategically-planned decision. The use of Facebook has been drastically decreased due to competitors such as, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc., and now almost every mobile phone user is on WhatsApp. In fact the first question one asks before buying is “isme WhatsApp hai Kya” and we also get to hear, ‘I will ping you on WhatsApp’, every alternate minute. Now I am waiting for what new things WhatsApp + Facebook brings into common man’s life. But in my personal view things are not going to change much except the fact that we all are largely addicted to both of them.

Deepak Shikarpur, Co chairman, IT committee, MCCIA

Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp makes smart sense. When many mobile apps were offering gaming and associated visual services, what made WhatsApp stand out was a focused, clean, lightning fast communications service that worked flawlessly. By using the internet as its communication backbone, WhatsApp has completely transformed personal communications and virtually replaced mobile SMS messaging services. WhatsApp has more than 450 million active users, and reached that number faster than any other company in history. Facebook was becoming stale and had a danger of loosing user base with advent of Google + and need to have focused social media. This acquisition also gives Facebook entry in China, where it is banned and WhatsApp is permitted. What needs to be seen in the future is how Facebook uses WhatsApp to enhance its services. Most users use both the products and seamless integration can make user smarter. 

Vasant Shetty, Vice President, Saama Technologies India

Last few years there is an increase in the adoption of mobile applications on smart phone devices for emails, chat, pictures, video and overall social networking compared to the desktop internet-based application (sic). This acquisition will help Facebook accelerate its mobile strategy and it also shows its determination to win the market for messaging. The price tag, yes, looks very expensive now, as was the price for YouTube (When Google acquired) and PayPal (when eBay acquired) but now both these companies contribute substantial part of revenue of the parent company. Over next few years we will have to see how Facebook will integrate WhatsApp into their mobile ecosystem platform and also create additional revenue stream.

Abhishek Waghmare, Research Associate, GreenEarth Social Development Consultants

We are in the stage of the communication revolution, where the devices that give access to means and modes of communication have become an obsession. That Facebook Corporation has bought 'WhatsApp' will change nothing for the users, in the sense that we will enjoy and get obsessed with whatever new we have. A giant social media company has took over a smaller one, but equally famous. It will serve socially-hungry people more fodder, per se. Likes and comments may enter WhatsApp and 'Last seen at' may spoil the Facebook experience.

Prashant Pansare, MD, Inteliment Technologies (Big Data Analytics)

Facebook is again throwing money to push down competition and paying $19 Bn is a ‘business gamble’ for this scale transaction. This may also be a reaction to the recent purchase of Viber by Rakuten. Facebook recently refreshed its messenger App UI and has been struggling to gain similar popularity on mobile platform. WhatsApp’s value is its huge foothold in Asian markets, as more and more young people are signing up for the “privacy” of the app, as a way to communicate without being slaughtered by expensive phone tariffs. WhatsApp’s creator says users will not see any changes and that it will not integrate ads, but that doesn’t preclude under-the-hood tinkering that could provide more information for ads on the Facebook platform. It’s too early to say whether this is too high a price tag. The ingredients are there for Facebook to make this purchase a win, and mobile does, after all, remain the present and the future.

 Asavari Karmarkar, Research Associate ( Jay biotech )

WhatsApp has become an integral part of my life, something I use to share my thoughts, emotions and news with my loved ones. Altough it has been bought by Facebook and could change a little bit it should remain free to use for the first year, just as it is now.The costumer safety service provided by Facebook should also  be  available for Whatsapp but I feel sharing your photos as display picture is getting riskier day by day, so perhaps for some numbers we should get the option to not display a profile photo.