It’s a natural alliance because it gives WhatsApp access to tens of millions of new customers through Reliance Jio,” said Nandan Nilekani, technology investor and co-founder of tech outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd. In turn, Reliance gets a lift because millions of neophytes see WhatsApp as the first step in entering the rest of the Internet.
India already has 480 million internet users – about 75 per cent more than the US and second only to China. That figure is projected to grow to 737 million by 2022, according to Forrester Research. “The next 500 million users are yet to be captured,” said Satish Meena, a forecast analyst at Forrester.
The scandals have Facebook’s stock on pace for its worst annual performance since 2012, the year it made its public debut. Yet India is evolving into perhaps its most promising opportunity. The country is already WhatsApp’s biggest market, with more than 200 million users.
Source: South China Morning Post