A recent publication in The Verge has revealed that WhatsApp adoption in the United States is growing, especially as users look for a better way to chat between iOS and Android devices. Meta has now confirmed that WhatsApp has reached the 100 million monthly users in the United States, but the company has a great challenge ahead for this figure to continue growing.
We all know that the US is a different market since, if we talk about iOS, iMessage takes over the majority of communications between users (the eternal debate of the blue bubble vs green bubble), but it seems that little by little WhatsApp is also making its way into something as established as messaging in the United States.
Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced this Tuesday that WhatsApp now has 100 million active monthly users in the United States.. The company says the app has become especially popular in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Seattle. Curiously, It is the first time that Meta publishes more specific data about WhatsApp in the United States and perhaps it is to gain muscle given the names of the cities.
«It is the first time that user data has been published since Meta's acquisition of the messaging app and demonstrates how the messaging platform, which It is already the largest messaging app in the world, has experienced enormous growth in the United States,” wrote Ashley O'Reilly, a WhatsApp spokesperson, in a statement.
Recall that Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $16.000 billion. Despite being the main messaging app in many countries and markets such as South America, India and even Europe, WhatsApp has never been a success in the United States due to the popularity of iMessage and how accustomed the American market is to sending "free" messages since they were SMS.
But as iPhone users find it difficult to communicate with Android users through the Messages app, more and more people in the U.S. They download WhatsApp to experience things such as better group chats, rich text formatting, and high-resolution media. However, Meta may have to change its strategy soon.
But RCS will come to the iPhone and Messages, so...
With iOS 18, Apple will finally enable RCS support for iPhone users (It has already been seen in the latest Betas that in Spain, for example, the functionality is now available). With RCS, iPhone users can send audio-rich messages and larger media files directly from the Messages app to Android users. RCS also has read receipts, something that was previously exclusive to iMessage and other instant messaging apps.
Once RCS is available for the general public and not just developers or Public Betas with the release of iOS 18 this fall, iPhone users in the United States may no longer have a compelling reason to download WhatsApp. Of course, the Meta platform still has other cards up its sleeve, such as its own payment platform and a way to share files offline between iOS and Android. We will see what can do better in the American market and if it manages to continue making its way.
