A few days ago, I reported Facebook purchased What’s App. I hinted what it could mean for these two businesses and the consumer. But what is ‘What’s App’?
First off, it’s the most popular instant messaging app in the world, with over 400 million users to date and growing. This instant messaging app trend began in Asia, but is really taking off here in the US. Apps like this can be simple, or you can be simple with What’s App, or you can get very creative. Some of What’s App’s competitors are getting creative, like Japan’s Line, which was founded in the wake of that nation’s devastating tsunami in March 2011. Now, Line is on the way to becoming the premier instant gaming message app.
This is an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds, and Facebook’s purchase will make it grow even more. But in addition to Facebook purchasing the What’s App, I’d like to see American innovators building an instant message app that’s just as good, if not better than What’s App or Line. I’d like to see them remain independent for as long as they can, which in this day and age, probably won’t be that long. So who will be that American inventor to step up with the ultimate instant massaging app?