Microsoft makes fun of Android vs iOS war – but still in last place

Google Reportedly Wants To Buy WhatsApp For $1 Billion

Google is the latest name to be linked to an acquisition of mobile messaging phenomenon WhatsApp, with many sources online quoting US$ 1 Billion as the figure WhatsApp has fixed its value.

Google apparently approached WhatsApp last month regarding a possible buyout, following on from other well-publicised acquisition attempts by the likes of Facebook and Apple and possibly Google themselves at an earlier juncture.

WhatsApp turned down all previous offers, citing their need to remain independent and a desire to keep costs down in order to not isolate users who are used to a cheap (on some platforms and countries completely free) entry price point for using the most popular over-the-top messaging platform around.

Presumably WhatsApp is also holding out for an acquisition sum as close as possible to that magic $ 1 billion figure, which seems a bit excessive considering unconfirmed reports puts WhatsApp’s annual revenue ar around US$ 100 million.

Could WhatsApp be joining the Android family?

WhatsApp holding out for the right offer might be the right move for the IM service, as OTT messaging apps steadily eat into mobile and telco earnings by offering a free alternative to paid SMSes, which used to be a financial boon for network operators. As the most popular OTT platform, WhatsApp is uniquely placed to take advantage of this, as analyst firm Ovum believes that by 2016, operators will lose US$ 54 billion in SMS revenue to these messaging apps- driven primarily by increasing mobile Internet and Broadband penetration worldwide.

Given the cross-pollination of WhatsApp’s service across mobile platforms (even BlackBerry’s new Z10 running on its latest OS will have WhatsApp), the acquisition is even more attractive to Google. Acquiring the IM will allow Google to have a messaging foothold in more than just the Android sphere, as users who have a Samsung Galaxy Note II can just as easily text an iPhone 5 as a HTC Windows Phone 8X- as long as there is a data connection, cross-platform messages could be sent inclusive of video, audio, and images if so desired.

WhatsApp is also consistently the top paid or free app on almost any OS- pair that with availability in over 100 countries and an enviable 100 million daily user average, and WhatsApp might well be the most valuable independent asset out there. Since October 2011, WhatsApp user base has seen exponential growth, with the IMer announcing that its servers send out roughly 10 billion messages everyday. This past New Year’s Eve, WhatsApp reportedly sent out a record 18 billion messages in a single day, more than any telco carrier.

All of these assets enunciate the point of how valuable WhatsApp is, so US$ 1 Billion does not look like such a stiff over-valuation after all.

Source: mobile88.com

Android up 13%, iOS down 7%, BlackBerry down 81% … and Windows Phone up a massive 52% Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/01/android-up-13-ios-down-7-blackberry-down-81-and-windows-phone-up-a-massive-52/#EyKfGsE4hXJDrzys.99

The mobile operating system market share numbers are in for Kantar Worldpanel’s last quarter, and the numbers are shocking.

Not the Android and iOS numbers: Steady but unspectacular growth for Android and gradual but not catastrophic drops for Apple are pretty much in line with expectations.

But the BlackBerry and Windows Phone numbers are dramatic changes from the same quarter a year ago. Windows Phone looks to be finally taking off, with 52 percent growth December, January, and February of this year compared to the same three months in 2012. And BlackBerry is falling of a sales cliff, with an 81 percent plunge in sales.

Source: Kantar WorldPanel

Smartphone sales by operating system – U.S.

The big kahuna, of course, is Android.

Google’s Android now owns more than half of U.S. smartphone sales, with 51.2 percent market share. That’s up from 45.4 percent in the quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, iOS is holding fairly steady at number two, with 43.5 percent, down slightly from last year’s 47 percent.

What’s interesting about the Windows numbers, even though they are on a much smaller installed base, is that Windows Phone is currently the fastest-growing mobile phone platform. At 4.1 percent of mobile operating system market share, Microsoft still has a very long ways to go, and growth rates could start to slow as it piles up share. But the numbers have to be encouraging for Redmond as it is finally gaining traction in a market that it once appeared to have completely lost.