The hugely popular cross platform messaging application Viber has sold for a whopping US$900 Million. With 225 Million users worldwide, the purchase (undoubtedly in large part for the userbase) makes users worth about US$4 each to the purchasing company, Japanese internet giant Rakuten.
Viber is possibly the most genuine cross platform application of its type, supporting Android, Android Tablet, iOS, Blackberry, Nokia (Symbian), Windows and Mac OS clients with persistent notifications across all of the above listed platforms for a single login. While all major messaging platforms have their pitfalls, the only other competitors that have this wide a reach are Google Hangouts and QQ, an application not widely known outside Asian markets, that has a staggering 800 million + active users each month.
The 900 million dollar deal is set to go through it’s final steps in early March and give Ratuken an even further reach than they currently have. The purchase fits in well with their current and very public aspirations to become one of the worlds biggest online retailers.
Are you a Viber user or do you have another platform you prefer for instant messaging?
