BIG OPPORTUNITY, SAYS ZUCKERBERG
“WhatsApp’s usage and engagement are phenomenal, but I don’t know how it can be monetised. Facebook isn’t as happening as it used to be, but it is still the largest social media network,” said Karthik Srinivasan, a communications consultant and former national lead (social) at Ogilvy.
According to market research portal Statista, Facebook had about 300 million users in India as of January this year, making it the company’s largest market. The number of users stood at about 250 million at the end of 2017.
Zuckerberg said while so-called digital town squares such as Facebook and Instagram will always be important, “over time there’s an even bigger opportunity with the digital living room to build a platform focused on privacy”.
“I think we should focus our efforts on building this privacy-focused platform,” he told analysts.
Currently, Facebook’s News Feed brings in the bulk of the social network’s revenue.
Digital industry analysts are of the view that WhatsApp’s popularity in India lies with people, who are coming online for the first time in smaller towns as well as its usability even in regions with low internet bandwidth.
“Indians have really taken to WhatsApp with free messaging, the ability to easily share videos and photographs, and a lighter application that works in low-bandwidth areas,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder of Greyhound Research.
Facebook, on the other hand, is a heavy application and “has the nuisance of advertisements, and you can’t even decide whose updates you want to see”, Gogia said.
The California-based company has seen profit drop by more than half, to $2.43 billion, in the first quarter of 2019 as the one-time reserve of $3 billion for an expected fine by US regulators wiped out most of its income. It posted $15.08 billion in revenue, up 26% from $11.97 billion in the year-earlier period.