According to an official announcement in a blog post on Monday, WhatsApp will no longer charge its users with an annual subscription fee of $0.99 per year. This is usually charged after a free trial period of twelve months. The WhatsApp or its parent company Facebook may forfeit hundreds of millions in annual revenue.
WhatsApp is famous in Europe, South America and parts of Asia. The number of users has reached as many as 900 m in September 2015 and WhatsApp is just weeks away from hitting the billion-user milestone.
Through this announcement, WhatsApp has ensured that these changes will not affect the company’s stance on advertising. It is an indication that there won’t be any third-party ads in the app in the future. Whereas, WhatsApp is trying its hands to find an alternative way to generate revenue through its huge user base, testing tools. It would build a way, where the users can communicate for businesses and other organizational purposes using the app, henceforth generating revenue.
Source: Statista
