WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform instant messaging application, shot down rumors of selling the firm to Google for $1 billion, according to AllThingsD.
WhatsApp business development head, Neeraj Arora, told AllThingsD in a statement that the company had no plans to sell its firm to the web giant. Google was rumored to be in sales talks with WhatsApp for $1 billion, according to an early report from Digital Trends. The report said the company was "playing hardball" to score a higher price from Google.
Following the rumors, WhatsApp clarified that it has no intentions of selling the firm.
This isn't the first time there has been rumours surrounding WhatsApp In December of last year, Facebook was allegedly interested in buying the popular mobile messaging app, but WhatsApp refuted the rumors saying they were "not factually accurate."
WhatsApp has grown enormously since it was launched and research confirms that its popularity has led to the decline of SMS just like Skype cut into international dial calling.
According to a report from The Telegraph, WhatsApp has an annual revenue of $100 million and manages more than 18 billion messages every day. The service is widely available on all smartphones including Android, iOS, Blackberry, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone and covers more than 750 mobile networks across 100 countries.
WhatsApp is consistently found among the top rated apps in all smartphones. In a recent interview, CEO Jan Koum said that the service will be chargeable annually. iOS users currently pay a one-off charge of $0.99 to use the service, and others will now be charged $0.99 every year.
Facebook launched its own free messaging service last week. Google too has been working on its own messaging service called "Babble" for its Android and iOS mobile operating systems.
