Cross-platform mobile messaging application WhatsApp has revealed it processed a whopping 18 billion messages on New Year’s Eve alone.
WhatsApp earlier this week tweeted it had processed 7 billion inbound messages, and another 11 billion outbound messages, which on equalling goes past the previous record for 10 billion messages, registered on August 10.
“Just how much is 1 billion messages?” the company had said in an October blog post. “That is 41,666,667 messages an hour, 694,444 messages a minute, and 11,574 messages a second.” WhatsApp processed more outbound messages than inbound because of large number of group chats. “Sending one [message] into [a] group chat of 10 people is 1:10 inbound:outbound,” WhatsApp explained in a tweet.
Apple’s iMessage service is estimated to process over 1 billion messages per day. With increasing popularity of smartphones across the world, a lot of people have switched to IP-based messaging such as iMessage and BlackBerry Messenger. Services such as ChatOn, Line and WeChat are quite popular in Asia.
WhatsApp’s 18 billion messages feat comes days after reports claimed the the company was in acquisition talks with Facebook. According to reports, the acquisition would help the social networking giant boost its mobile presence and push into more markets across the world. WhatsApp, however, rejected the reports, describing them as rumours and factually incorrect, while Facebook, released an updated Facebook Messenger for Android with WhatsApp-like functionality..
Also read,
WhatsApp now available on iOS for free for a limited time
Facebook Messenger refresh for Android: First Impressions
WhatsApp messenger for smartphones – IM the new craze? [Review]
Happy 20th Birthday SMS