WhatsApp hires Facebook executive Matt Idema as its first COO

Image: AFP

By tech2 News Staff /  16 Feb 2017 , 15:51

WhatsApp has hired Matt Idema, a Facebook executive who was leading product marketing for all the business products made by Facebook worldwide. This hire is suspected to lead WhatsApp into a completely different and contrasting direction than the current scenario. Facebook acquired the company in 2014 for $22 billion. The interesting part of the acquisition is the fact that WhatsApp does not make any money for Facebook. The company also decided to eliminate the subscription fee that WhatsApp charged the users after one year of free usage.

There are hints that the company is thinking about a mechanism to make money out of the massive userbase that WhatsApp commands all over the world. The decision of hire Idema hints towards a push in direction of monetization as reported by Recode. Even though his role has not yet been chalked out inside WhatsApp and it may not be the same as that of product marketing while working with Facebook. But it may very well fit in if rumours are true about WhatsApp working on adding ‘Business profile’ to the platform which will make it easier for businesses to operate and reach consumers beyond emails, calls and SMS.

This surely is a different way from the revenue stream that can be secured from straight up subscription fees, paid app models or advertisements that other companies and developers opt for. But developing a business side of the app and charging money will be a great way which won’t affect normal users. Another important thing to note is the fact that the company won’t really channel all the third-party messages or spam to you but in fact aims at making the addition more useful.

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum had previously added, “Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organisations that you want to hear from. That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. We all get these messages elsewhere today — through text messages and phone calls — so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and spam.”

One important thing to note is that WhatsApp is heading in almost the same direction as that of Facebook Messenger with hints of impending ‘Bots’ and businesses and brands. The attempts at monetizing platforms are going in the same direction as that of adding Snapchat like features in all its platforms ranging from Instagram to Facebook Messenger and now WhatsApp.

Gartner predicts that global IT spending will reach $3.5 trillion in 2017

Image Credit: REUTERS

  20 Oct 2016 , 17:06

Driven by growth in software and IT services revenue, worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.5 trillion in 2017 — up 2.9 percent from 2016 estimated spending of $3.4 trillion, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday. Software spending is projected to grow six percent in 2016. It will grow another 7.2 percent in 2017 to total $357 billion, the report said, adding that IT services spending is on pace to grow 3.9 percent in 2016 to reach $597 billion and increase 4.8 percent in 2017 to reach $943 billion.

While discussing the impact of Brexit on IT investment at the “Gartner Symposium/ITxpo” event here, John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, said that the immediate impact of Brexit has caused modest growth in IT spending to turn negative for 2016.

“Without the UK, global IT spending growth would have been modestly positive at 0.2 per cent in 2016, but with the UK included, IT spending is expected to decrease 0.3 per cent. The immediate impact of the British pound will also cause the IT spending patterns to shift as prices for IT will increase,” Lovelock added.

While talking about IT spending trends in the wake of the US presidential election, Lovelock said that there is a slight pause in IT spending leading into the election and then a relief in spending, subsequently.

IANS

Intel beats Wall Street earnings expectation but current quarter forecast disappointing

  19 Oct 2016 , 10:06

Intel Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, boosted by improving PC demand and growth in its data centre and cloud businesses, but its revenue forecast for the current quarter disappointed Wall Street. The world’s largest chipmaker’s shares were down 5.3 percent at $35.75 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Intel said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Analysts on average were expecting $15.86 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. “This is below the average seasonal increase for the fourth quarter as we expect the worldwide PC supply chain to reduce their inventory,” Executive Vice President Stacy Smith said on a conference call with analysts.

Last month, Intel raised its third-quarter revenue forecast for the first time in more than two years, citing improving PC demand. The company’s decision to raise third-quarter forecast moved investors’ expectations to