iMessage was introduced in 2011 alongside iOS 5. It was believed to be Apple’s answer to platform-exclusive messaging platforms like BlackBerry’s BBM and Samsung’s ChatON at that time. Prior to that, the Messages app was mainly used for sending/receiving regular text messages and MMS.
However it seems that thanks to more iPhones being adopted on an annual basis, along with more iPads being sold, it looks like Apple’s iMessages is quite a hit amongst iOS users. According to a recent Q&A session that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had with investors, it was revealed that the number of iMessages sent a day currently numbers at 40 billion.
While this is a huge number and it is something to be impressed and be proud about, it is how fast iMessages grew that is truly impressive. In January 2013, the average number of iMessages sent was at 2 billion a day, a number that has grown by 20 times in a year.
By mid-2013, a total of 900 billion iMessages were sent, but now that 900 billion mark is hit every three weeks, and we can only assume that those numbers will continue rising with each passing day. In fact iMessage’s 40 billion mark isn’t too far off from WhatsApp, where last we heard handled about 50 billion messages on a daily basis.
However given the fact that WhatsApp is available on multiple platforms, versus iMessage which is only available for iOS device, it is certainly something to think about. Cook also revealed that Apple handles about 15 to 20 million FaceTime calls a day. What do you guys make of those numbers? Impressed, or not?