The metaverse, at least in its early stages of development, is not a source of hard currency and requires constant investment. For this Mark Zuckerberg is looking for formulas to finance his virtual adventure without causing bleeding.
The plan calls for profits to come from what it is now, its flagships: WhatsApp and, to a lesser extent, Messenger. These messaging services don’t return any profit because they don’t include advertising and they don’t have a subscription plan.
This option would mean A 180 degree turn in corporate strategy. The accounts in Meta do not close, to the point that the management has been forced to cut 13% of its workforce in a wave of historic layoffs.
In this scenario, Zuckerberg allegedly admitted in a meeting that the company has a better chance of making money in the short term by investing in applications than have proven to be reliable.
“We talk a lot about long-term opportunities like the metaverse, but the reality is that enterprise messaging will likely be the next big pillar of our business as we work toward monetize more WhatsApp and Messenger”, the Meta chief executive said according to Reuters.
During this interview he didn’t reveal great details about the strategy he has in mind, but at the moment he does it, as he had already anticipated, working on a subscription for the business part of WhatsApp.
This will add some differentiating options to boost the business of those companies that use Whatsapp Business. As may already be verified in some application betas.
The paths to monetize could be in the fees for transferring money between contacts. But also, inside advanced features only for paid subscribers, or from in-app purchase options.
WhatsApp, no profit
Eight years ago, Zuckerberg paid off 22,000 million dollars from WhatsApp and managed to bill just over 10% of what it cost. While with Instagram the profitability was immediate.
For WhatsApp and Messenger, which have 2 billion and 900 million users respectively, to start generating more revenue, their functions will need to be expanded. The goal is to have these apps generate as much money as Facebook and Instagram.
Currently, Meta allows simple transactions within the messaging app in some countries. In Brazil, one of the big markets, a new payment tool through the messaging service was released last week.
“This seamless checkout experience will be a game changer for people and businesses who want to buy and sell on WhatsApp without having to visit a website, open another app or pay in person,” the company explained to about this new service.
This is nothing new, since several companies are betting on this subscription plan to add extra features. One of them is its big competitor like Telegram Premium, and we can also see it with Twitter Blue which, among other things, will add the option to be verified next to the username.
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Source: Clarin
Linda Price is a tech expert at News Rebeat. With a deep understanding of the latest developments in the world of technology and a passion for innovation, Linda provides insightful and informative coverage of the cutting-edge advancements shaping our world.