Originally Posted by
tinochiko Yeah as said above that's about bbm Shop, but i dont understand why that's a better questions rather than just a different one? More user update, more revenue, instead of trying to make a smaller userbase pay more, let a bigger userbase pay less..
TechCraze C0008DDD1

Whatsapp has a VERY, VERY weird tiered, multi-level-priviledged system. I'm not sure if I can compress what I understand, but here' what I knew.
Back in 2008/9 when this Whatsapp was firstly available and then introduced to iOS, and later Android, and later to BBOS and other platforms, it was FREE for iOS but wasn't for other platforms.
Then later, if I recall correctly, WhatsApp did inked deals with certain telcos so that telcos would use WhatsApp as their SMS services and things like that . WhatsApp also inked other deals as well.
But back on the platform front, iOS users were always subsidized.What I noticed within my family was this.
iOS= free for life. (and still standing)
Android=free for first year, paid for next year onwards.
BlackBerry=free for 3 months, paid for next year onwards.
WP = no data (no one in my family used that)
and so I was thinking it made no logic to have the iOS users not paying, but the BlackBerry and Android users paying.
So as much, I knew that there were groups of people offering free services of swapping sim cards so that whatsapp thought that these devices swithed to iOS, and then these accounts became from "free 1st year, pay from next year onwards" became "permanently free for the rest of life".
But I don't have new data from 2013 onwards. Did not actively read into them.