Get All Access for $5/mo

How Whatsapp Become The Big Success In The Industry? Constant crashes and glitches dated back in WhatsApp have attributed to its success rate.

By BusinessEx Staff

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Twin Design / Shutterstock.com

This week, Facebook-held messaging app, WhatsApp revealed that the application has crossed 5 million users-marker. Within a year's launch of "WhatsApp Business" app, small, as well as medium entrepreneurs, are making use of it to connect with customers and thrive in the market.

In Days Of Yore

The messenger application was founded by two former Yahoo employees in 2009. Initiating a standard messaging app to adding VoIP feature and photo-sharing attribute, WhatsApp has been meticulously changed to what it is today. The increasing popularity of WhatsApp grabbed the attention of Facebook's founder and later, the application got officially acquired by Facebook in February 2014. As time goes by, the messaging app who now owned by Facebook got immensely popular and gained a user-base of 1 billion as reported by Forbes.

Recognition Amid The Users

The popular messaging application plunged numerous hurdles to become the most-preferred and secure messaging app. There was a time when Jan Koum, one of the founders, decided to give up the project owing to the recurring glitches in the mobile application. Mainly, the first few versions of the app were dysfunctional in many ways which, in turn, grew dejection in the then-founder. Nonetheless, the founder kept working on it and soon gained 250 million users, followed by highest 1 billion users in 2016.

Timely addition of new attributes helped popularize the messaging app. Earlier on, new updates in the series incorporated launching iOS and Blackberry versions only whilst later, newly introduced versions augmented user's experience and thus, expanded its reach by addition of OTT services, status feature, group audio and video call feature, and lastly, WhatsApp Business launch.

Adversaries In The Industry

Texting and communication go hand-in-hand and thus, a fusion of both segments has enlivened the masses across the world. Following the emergence of WhatsApp, a series of other messaging apps were introduced envisioning the same success that the former achieved. Currently, there are abundant texting applications other than WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business that users employ in their day-to-day lives viz. WeChat, Viber, Line, Telegram, Hike and Facebook Messenger.

For survival in the nascent competitive industry, the present acquirer of WhatsApp, Facebook scrutinizes the market and keeps adding on new features so as to keep the messaging application on number first position.

Revolving Around The Texting Segment

After ruling in the texting segment, WhatsApp plunders into other industries. In 2018, the messaging app was planning to invade in the Indian digital payment domain but RBI regulations and Facebook-Cambridge Analytica episode delayed the plan. However, WhatsApp Business proposal got easily actualized and has grown popularized among small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

The Indian-based entrepreneurs reckon that the messaging-cum-business application has accelerated their business and outgrown their enterprises in the respective communities. Witnessing the success, the WhatsApp celebrates the achievement and envisions to serve the users better.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Growth Strategies

AMD Confident About Increasing Market Share In India

The semiconductor company is positive about the business environment in India on the back of growing investments in data centers and AI, Cloud repatriation, as well as technology refresh taking place across companies on both server side and client devices

Devices

Clean up Your Mac Software with This $12 Family Plan, for One Week Only

Save on a program that can optimize your company's Mac computers.

Leadership

Tech Overload Will Destroy Your Customer Relationships. Are You Guilty of Using Too Much Tech?

Technology's value in our world is undeniable. However, there can be a point where it is ineffective and possibly counterproductive. See where it can negatively impact your product, brand, and business.

Lifestyle

Here's a quick five points to decode 10 years of Kiara Advani in Bollywood

As the actress shared an emotional post on her social media while celebrating her decade-long ride as a Bollywood star, with multiple superhit films and more than 25 brand endorsements in her kitty, we look at five interesting points to encapsulate the journey of Kiara Advani.

Lifestyle

Actress Nupur Sanon breaks boundaries between fashion and business with her new brand, No Boundaries

As Bollywood actress Nupur Sanon starts her new clothing brand NoBo—No Boundaries recently, in conversation with Entrepreneur India, the young artist opens up on her childhood story that inspired her to start her journey as an entrepreneur, why fashion policing on women should stop, and how she is balancing between establishing a homegrown brand and working on her next film Noorani Chehra with Nawazuddin Siddiqui.