We are in the middle of 2021 , and for a time the messaging suffered an inexplicable setback. As mobile phones began to become popular, users began to put computers aside as a means of communication to move to mobile phones. WhatsApp knew how to capitalize on that, but with a strategy that would be unthinkable today.
Currently, we have a wide variety of applications to communicate: WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Facebook Messenger, Discord, Instagram Direct, WeChat, Line , and a long etcetera. They all have one thing in common: they are free . Some have some paid functions, as is the case with some sticker packs, but they are minor functions and do not discriminate against one or other users in terms of functionality.
Being the first allowed her to charge whatever she wanted
Part of this we have to thank Telegram. Before his arrival, mobile messaging was practically monopolized by WhatsApp. Being the first mobile messaging application that made it possible to do without SMS, it became the most used messaging application in the world.
However, being the first and having no competition earned them to implement a payment system that required to pay a certain amount after the first year of having the application. This date was changing over time, as the application automatically renewed and extended the date in a somewhat random way.
For a while, WhatsApp finally got serious about the payments issue, and stopped extending the renewal for free , and demanded payment for the use of the app. For the price of five SMS we could send unlimited messages for a year after the first 365 days of use . It looked like a bargain.
That time coincided with the arrival of Telegram, an application that had an interface very similar to WhatsApp, but which had many improvements. One of the most important was cross-platform use, something that WhatsApp had to quickly remedy with the launch of WhatsApp Web .
However, in addition to the native multiplatform, Telegram offered something that WhatsApp did not: a totally free service . Although a few months ago Telegram announced that it was going to put some payment functions, such as sticker packs or the possibility of placing ads on some channels (many of which already have them), WhatsApp directly forced you to pay to use it at the same time there was an alternative that was better and free.
WhatsApp charged until 5 and a half years ago
The price charged by WhatsApp was 0.89 euros for one year ; 2.40 euros for three years, and 3.34 euros for five years . The price was only charged on Android, while on iOS it was free. Poor of the one who paid the five years.
Finally, after the launch of Telegram and the acquisition by Facebook for 19,000 million dollars, WhatsApp announced in January 2016 that it was going to be completely free, with a “lifetime license.”
The app lived up to the date of those subscriptions as the only way of income. Facebook has tried to monetize WhatsApp by all possible means, and currently the two main means of monetization that they have in the app are the advertisements in WhatsApp States, and the charges they make to companies for using WhatsApp Business as a communication channel with the users.
Luckily, we see that today it would be unthinkable for a paid messaging application to reach the market and succeed at the level that the largest do, thanks to the great competition that exists.
