WhatsApp rockets to 1bn monthly users
The Facebook-owned service is becoming more popular than ever.
The popularity of the messaging app WhatsApp is booming, with it reaching a record-breaking one billion monthly users for the first time ever.
Since the service was acquired by Facebook in 2014 it has gone from strength to strength, with 42 billion texts and 250 million videos being sent by the service each day.
The lack of usage fees is a massive selling point for WhatsApp, and mobile users have flocked to the service, especially when speaking to people internationally.
Jack Kent, mobile analyst at HIS, told the BBC: "Facebook had just started pushing people to its own standalone Messenger app when it bought WhatsApp. But there was a risk it could have been acquired by a competitor and Facebook would lose millions of highly-engaged mobile users to a rival.
"But WhatsApp still faces those challenges from domestic players who monetise their services very well. It remains a competitive area."
Despite the dominance of WhatsApp in many markets, it still isn't hugely prominent in China and South Korea, where local players such as WeChat and Kakao Talk are used most readily.
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