Info Tech
Facebook Shares Decline After $19 Billion Deal
WASHINGTON – The transaction, which includes $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees over four years, ranks as the largest-ever purchase of a company backed by venture capital. The deal—which keeps a potential disrupter away from rivals like Google Inc. GOOG -0.06% —is seen helping Facebook’s popularity with younger users, its international development and its mobile business.
“Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp gives the company a strong position in mobile messaging, which we think is a crucial part of the company’s core mission of connecting the world,” J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said.
The acquisition easily outranks any acquisition of startups in recent years, including Facebook’s purchase of photo-sharing app Instagram for more than $1 billion in 2012, and, a year earlier, Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT +0.15% $8.5 billion buy of video-calling company Skype.
The deal values WhatsApp higher than 275 companies in the S&P 500 index, and analysts cautioned Thursday that investors shouldn’t use the usual methods to evaluate the price tag.
“It is difficult to value this deal on traditional earnings or revenue metrics, given that WhatsApp is still in the early stages of growth.” Wedbush analyst Shyam Patil said.
It isn’t clear is how much revenue WhatsApp makes—the company declined to comment on its sales. It charges 99 cents a year after one year of free use and doesn’t carry ads. On a conference call, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he doesn’t think ads are the right way to monetize messaging systems.
Rather than using revenue, analysts suggested evaluating the deal on what Facebook is paying for each WhatsApp user. Even then, the analysis can be mixed.
Facebook is paying roughly $36 for each of WhatsApp’s 450 million users, which is more than the $9 per user that Japanese Internet retailer Rakuten Inc. 4755.TO -4.81% paid earlier this month for messaging service Viber Media Inc., analysts said, but it is significantly less than the $130-plus value that the stock market has placed on each user at Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
“To put the WhatsApp acquisition in another perspective, Facebook’s $36 price per WhatsApp user is remarkably similar to the $33 per user they paid for Instagram,” Mr. Rohan said. “While many investors were against the price tag for Instagram at the time, it is now considered to be a prescient acquisition due to the usage and monetization capabilities of the platform.”
Analysts also pointed to WhatsApp’s faster growth rates and its potential to reach 1 billion users, something that Mr. Zuckerberg predicted will happen in the next few years.
“While monetization will take time, we think the potential size of the user base and strong engagement on WhatsApp should ultimately lead to meaningful monetization,” Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said, adding that 70% of WhatsApp’s users use it daily, above Facebook’s 62%.
“We note that WhatsApp’s user base is nearly 2x Twitter and growing at a significantly faster pace,” the analyst said.
WhatsApp has long been seen as a takeover target for Internet giants. Google had reached out to buy the company several years ago, two people familiar with the situation said, while two other people said deal talks between the two companies also took place recently. A Google spokesman declined to comment.
While Facebook’s shares fell Thursday, the decline would have been worse if Google had purchased WhatsApp, Mr. Rohan said.
“We believe Facebook shares would have been pressured by more than single-digit percentages,” the analyst said, “if Google had purchased WhatsApp instead.”
Wedbush’s Mr. Patil agreed, “The acquisition appears defensive, as Facebook is acquiring a competitor that could have posed a long-term threat and in doing so, is also keeping it out of the hands of another competitor.”
Beyond revenue, the deal could help shelter the social network against the shifting tastes of teen users, some of whom have grown cool to it, and bolster its position internationally. WhatsApp is particularly popular outside of the U.S.
The transaction comes in the wake of Facebook’s failed attempt to purchase another messaging service popular with younger users, Snapchat, for roughly $3 billion last year.
Even by the get-big-fast standards of Silicon Valley, WhatsApp’s story is remarkable. The company, founded in 2009 by Ukrainian Jan Koum and American Brian Acton, reached 450 million users faster than any company in history, wrote Jim Goetz, a partner at investor Sequoia Capital.
Facebook had fewer than 150 million users after its fourth year, one third that of WhatsApp in the same time period.
WhatsApp processes 50 billion messages a day, Mr. Goetz wrote, yet has only 32 engineers and doesn’t employ any marketing or public-relations people.
WhatsApp built its business on the idea of offering instant messaging without the fees that carriers often charge. The app lets uses send text, pictures and video to anyone with the software, free. Unlike Apple Inc. AAPL -0.57% ‘s iMessage, it works on all the major mobile operating systems.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
In efforts at spicing up the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, the management of ITREALMS Media has partnered with E-waste Producer Responsibility Organization of Nigeria (EPRON) membership organisations for a day-long collection scheme of small electronic waste on Friday, December 15, 2023.
The EPRON members aligning their partnership with 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue are EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited and WEEE Eco-Friendly.
ITREALMS’ day-long collection scheme is part of the commemoration of 2023 international E-Waste Day (IEWD) within the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue with the theme “You Can Recycle Anything with a plug, battery or cable” at Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos.
Revealing this collaboration, the Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media, the organisers of the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, Sir. Remmy Nweke, urged mobile device enthusiasts to come along with their devices that have reached their end-of-life to the venue for proper disposition by professionals who would also be on grounds to address some topical issues.
The collection of small electronic wastes especially mobile phones and like-devices, would be carried out by EPRON member organisation, EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited as facilitated by ITREALMS Media group as part of this year’s ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue on Friday, December 15, he added.
He disclosed that the exercise would commence at Welcome Centre Hotel by 9am till close of work hours the same day.
Nweke pointed out that the collection of small e-waste items would include mobile phones, pointers mouse, earpieces, rechargeable torches, phone chargers, to name a few.
Further, he said, that this initiative has become time-serving because some people may have missed any other opportunity before now for the year-long campaign, hence this awareness on e-Waste has to be continuous, “ITREALMS came up with this scheme.”
Nweke beckoned on Nigerians, especially mobile phone users, to leverage the opportunity in disposing of their mobile devices they no longer use, of course in exchange for a voucher or gift item.
In her reaction to this year’s day-long small waste collection, EPRON Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Faluyi, described the initiative as commendable, expressing confidence it would intensify the collection of end-of-life devices for proper disposition.
Mrs. Faluyi, also urged Nigerians to take advantage of this day-long collection of small wastes courtesy of ITREALMS Media.
Recalling for instance that in October 2022, EPRON had partnered SLOT alongside some UN agencies for collection of small e-waste items in Lagos, including the United Nations Information Centres (UNIC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
This is even as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Aminu Maida and Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro, would both lead speakers at the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue slated for this Friday, December 15, in Lagos.
Today, September 12, the tech corporation Apple will introduce the iPhone 15, their newest iPhone model.
According to a Forbes story, this model, which will be introduced at the company’s “Wanderlust” event in Cupertino, California, will be available in four variations: the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Here are five things you should know about the new iPhone 15 model.
1. The new model is made of titaniu, not stainless steel as some other Apple smartphone models, Senior research analyst at DIGITIMES, Luke Lin reports.
2. The Pro Max model will feature double the optical zoom on the iPhone 14 as it comes with a newly-introduced ‘periscope lens upgrade, performing 5-6x optical zoom.’
3. The Pro models will carry an A17 bionic chip expected to make it perform faster.
4. The iPhone 15 model will feature a USB-C charging port, the same port featured on some Android phone models.
5. Due to its titanium shell, the new model is anticipated to be more expensive to purchase. The following is the speculated price list, as reported by Forbes:
The iPhone 15 starts at $799, the iPhone 15 Plus at $899, the iPhone 15 Pro at $1,099 ($100 increase), and the iPhone 15 Pro Max at $1,299 ($200 increase).
In an effort to reduce the exorbitant cost of Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol, the Infrastructure Bank Plc announced its collaboration with FEMADEC Group on Monday to offer 500 buses powered by autogas (Compressed Natural Gas).
Partners in the agreement claimed that the project was created to provide citizens with dependable, affordable, and environmentally friendly travel options, taking into account the negative effects of the nationwide increase in PMS costs.
Under Decree No. 51 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1992 Constitution, the Infrastructure Bank, originally known as the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, was founded in 1992 to promote the quick development of infrastructure throughout the nation.
In a statement issued in Abuja on its partnership with FEMADEC, the bank said, “The preliminary offer extended by TIB lays a solid foundation for the expansion of FEMADEC Group’s CNG bus fleet.
“With plans to introduce 500 CNG buses within the next five years, commencing with an initial batch of 50 buses in the forthcoming year, this proposal stands poised to instigate significant change.
“The acceptance of this proposition by FEMADEC Group, notably championed by Fola Akinnola, the Group Chief Executive Officer, is a testament to their zeal and dedication to this alliance.”
The bank described the partnership as a “pivotal endeavour that is primed to redefine Nigeria’s public transportation landscape, offering dependable, cost-effective, and ecologically conscious travel alternatives for citizens, while harmonising with the nation’s broader sustainability ambitions.”
“This partnership represents a remarkable stride towards a more ecologically aware future for Nigeria’s transportation sector, highlighting the shared commitment of both TIB and FEMADEC Group to sustainable advancement and progress.”
It said FEMADEC Group’s strides in operating Compressed Natural Gas buses, including the existing fleet of 20 CNG buses under LAMATA, underscored their unwavering dedication to ecologically sound solutions, a commitment predating the fuel subsidy removal.
“Their leadership within the CNG value chain is undeniable, and the new alliance with TIB underscores their foresight.
“This partnership seamlessly aligns with TIB’s sustainability objectives, echoing their resolute endorsement of the government’s net-zero and climate change agenda.
“The bank’s aspiration to champion Nigeria’s infrastructure progress is evident in its endorsement of pivotal initiatives like this, yielding expansive positive impacts on both the environment and society,” the bank stated.
The bank added that it would continue to make a significant contribution to the country’s growth as a leading financial institution committed to advancing effective and long-lasting infrastructure projects.
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