Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#551

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:55 AM UTC

Interesting to note that WhatsApp had started circulating some overly broad and ill-formed "DMCA takedown" notices a few days back: https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2014-02-12-WhatsA...

By this email, please accept this formal notice and takedown request for the following content on the GitHub site. I am starting with these requests to ensure you will take action on our request. We will have follow-on requests, as the list of infringing content below is not exhaustive.

Specifically:

The following URLs use of the WhatsApp name and logo, use of other WhatsApp content, unauthorized use of WhatsApp APIs, software, and/or services, and provision of software and services related to WhatsApp infringes on WhatsApp's copyrights and trademarks, including those related to WhatsApp's name and logo. WhatsApp's trademarks are registered in the United States and countries throughout the world.

Note that:

• Trademarks aren't subject to the DMCA.

• APIs aren't copyrightable.

• TOU violations aren't subject to the DMCA.

Given that the letter isn't clearly formatted as a DMCA takedown (though it uses some sample language) the effect is ... curious.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#552

Post by bagels » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:55 AM UTC

I read all the comments, the whole time thinking about how crazy this number is.

I read why people use it, because it is cheaper (free?) than the ridiculous pricing of SMS.

So, I looked up the revenues generated by SMS, and it is estimated to be, according to a very cursory search:

150 Billion USD per year

This is the number that Facebook is using to compare their offer against. It is not crazy if they can capture even a few percent of that money.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#553

Post by hrjet » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:56 AM UTC

guelo wrote: post #524

nullspace wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a very good point, even if you don't immediately realize the deeper implications. :) In India, you generally pay per text message - so if you can convince even 3 of your close friends to start using Whatsapp, you save (say) 20% of your phone bill. Here in US, if you are going to send more than a few texts a month, you are going to be paying 20 USD. So there is no real monetary incentive (initially) for you an…

So why didn't Indian telecoms implement all-you-can-eat messaging to stop the erosion of users moving to WhatsApp?

Indian telecom sector is highly regulated by the Govt. And it is very competitive. So there's no way such an all-or-nothing deal can be introduced so late in the game.

Edit: Moreover, the telecoms do make money on the data plans don't they?

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#554

Post by AznHisoka » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:58 AM UTC

MatthiasP wrote: post #424

paulrademacher wrote: post #237

I think I will nominate myself to be the single person on Hacker News, who after an announcement of a huge mega-acquisition, will skip all the high-minded analysis and discussion of business models and ROI, and simply say: Wow, I wish I had a $19B acquisition -- I'm jealous :-)

I would already be satisfied with a $19M acquisition.

Hell, I'd take a 1.9M acquihire, with 10 year golden handcuffs :P

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#555

Post by bsder » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:01 AM UTC

zanny wrote: post #543

nullspace wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really "pop" technology. Surprisingly, it's not used much in the United States, but in India it's basically a replacement for text messaging. Everyone from a 13 year old child to my grand mom uses it to keep in touch with friends and family members across the globe. IMHO, they were able to get to such widespread everyday usage because they such awesome and reliable technology. Much better than what Google ha…

I'll shake my first and one day see people using open standards protocols rather than this morass of proprietary dribble. Until then, I'm marginally lonely on my xmpp clients, though the facebook integration really helps.

The messaging part isn't the problem.

The value in Skype, WhatsApp, etc. is the vast amount of work and codebase that goes into punching holes in routers/gateways/NATs to make the internet actually work like it was originally designed.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#556

Post by kashif » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:03 AM UTC

zanny wrote: post #543

nullspace wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really "pop" technology. Surprisingly, it's not used much in the United States, but in India it's basically a replacement for text messaging. Everyone from a 13 year old child to my grand mom uses it to keep in touch with friends and family members across the globe. IMHO, they were able to get to such widespread everyday usage because they such awesome and reliable technology. Much better than what Google ha…

I'll shake my first and one day see people using open standards protocols rather than this morass of proprietary dribble. Until then, I'm marginally lonely on my xmpp clients, though the facebook integration really helps.

Also XMPP is non-performant and verbose - these things matter as far a protocols go.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#557

Post by Aqueous » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:04 AM UTC

nwh wrote: post #60

400,000,000 active users [0] 16,000,000,000 USD ---- $40 per user That's an incredible cost. We can assume Facebook is paying for the userbase, the app itself and it's infrastructure would basically run itself. It's less appealing when you realise that there's probably a miniscule fraction of WhatsApp users that don't have a Facebook account. > WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can contin…

Right. The sole reason for this acquisition is to corral all the users who are no longer using Facebook as their primary messaging platform back to Facebook, or at least making it so they don't lose the revenue. Just like with Instagram, their interest is less in bolstering their own service than keeping people from going to their strongest competitors. I guess when you have billions in cash on hand you can keep people from going to your strongest competitors by making them no longer your competitors :-)

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#558

Post by sjg007 » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:11 AM UTC

ForHackernews wrote: post #515

MatthiasP wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nationwide SMS is dirt cheap in most of Europe too. But the cost goes up rapidly when you send messages across borders, say from Italy to Germany. And international MMS are just ridiculously expensive. A friend of mine once paid ~5€ for a single MMS sent from Croatia to Germany. Croatian, Slovenian and Austrian telcos all wanted their share of roaming fees. With WhatsApp you don't need to worry about all these things…

Seems like carriers or device manufacturers could easily undercut them by offering the same service, but preinstalled. I guess Apple already does, with iMessage. If only they weren't so blindly stubborn about interoperability.

The problem with iMessage is that you don't know if your friend has an iPhone.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#559

Post by mahyarm » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:14 AM UTC

zanny wrote: post #543

nullspace wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really "pop" technology. Surprisingly, it's not used much in the United States, but in India it's basically a replacement for text messaging. Everyone from a 13 year old child to my grand mom uses it to keep in touch with friends and family members across the globe. IMHO, they were able to get to such widespread everyday usage because they such awesome and reliable technology. Much better than what Google ha…

I'll shake my first and one day see people using open standards protocols rather than this morass of proprietary dribble. Until then, I'm marginally lonely on my xmpp clients, though the facebook integration really helps.

XMPP was designed for desktops with persistent internet connections, it has issues with a non-modified implementation on mobile.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#560

Post by dba7dba » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:14 AM UTC

tostitos1979 wrote: post #512

dba7dba wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true. KakaoTalk is big in S Korea. LINE is big in Japan. Quick check shows of 300 million registered LINE users and 50 million are in Japan.

My wife uses Kakao and she got me on it too. The app works well and it is cute. I thought it was hilarious how they monetize with stickers. Then, I realized ... holy sh*t ... this is worth a billion!

KakaoTalk has more profit than WhatsApp per user I think. Had KakaoTalk been an American company, it would make more and might have been snapped up by someone bigger already...