WHATSAPP has been a popular messaging app with 400 million users in India out of about 2 billion users worldwide. On the other hand, it has about 68 million users in the US. The number of users in the EU region is estimated to be around 150 million. It is available in about 180 countries. But by far, India is the largest single country using WhatsApp, with Brazil at about 100 million coming a distant second.
WhatsApp is a generic name for messaging apps in India and it is used for social messaging, voice calling and video calling. Many businesses have also started using the personal version of the app though WhatsApp has introduced a business version with a revenue model.
It is also notable that part of the Judiciary in India had started recognising WhatsApp message as an admissible delivery of “Notice” and “Double Tick and Blue Tick” as admissible delivery and acknowledgment status, ignoring even the Section 65B (Indian Evidence Act) requirements. This legal recognition perhaps was questionable but indicated the perception that WhatsApp was an accepted mode of mass communication.
These statistics clearly indicate that India is an important market for WhatsApp, much bigger than the US or EU which WhatsApp cannot afford to ignore. However, the recent announcement of WhatsApp to introduce a new privacy policy seems to have shaken up the market to the extent that there is a significant shift of users from WhatsApp to Telegram and Signal. It will not be long before Line catches up and some Indian apps will emerge. Microsoft may also try to popularise its own version of instant messaging to fill the void.
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Denne historien er fra January 25, 2021-utgaven av India Legal.
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