Wouldn’t it be great to run a global business that is so successful you are willing to risk alienating a huge slice of your existing and potential customers – six million of them in South Africa alone?
No, I’m not talking about Apple, although the maker of the iPhone and Mac is notorious for infuriating its faithful users by introducing new devices that aren’t compatible with older chargers and connectors.
In this instance I’m referring to WhatsApp. The mobile messaging service recently dropped the bombshell that it’s going to stop supporting nearly all BlackBerry phones and many older Nokia, Windows and Android handsets.
By December 2016, WhatsApp will stop working on all BlackBerry devices except for its most recent, the Priv, which runs Google’s Android operating system.
It will also stop working on Nokia phones running the S40 and S60 operating systems as well as devices running Android 2.1, Android 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1.
The company says these older devices and the operating systems running them simply cannot “offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future”.
They have a point. Supporting millions of older devices is a hugely costly business and introducing new features is key to staying competitive in the cut-throat mobile messaging market.
But I can’t help wondering if WhatsApp hasn’t been a tad hasty.
Judging by the initial reaction to the news on social media, the backlash could be significant. Tens, maybe hundreds of millions of people around the world still use devices that will be affected by the switch-off.
South Africa could be particularly hard hit. Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx, says around 3.5 million people still use BlackBerry phones here, with another 2.5 million still on Nokia devices.
While these numbers are declining, he predicts they’ll continue to make up a substantial slice of the South African mobile user base for at least another five years.
I have to agree with Goldstuck when he suggests WhatsApp should consider phasing in the changes, perhaps running an older version with limited features in parallel with the shiny new version for several years.
The big switch-off could be a boon for competing messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, Viber or WeChat. BlackBerry is certainly viewing it as an opportunity to stage a comeback for its once-ubiquitous BBM.
Fellow tech journalist, Lauren Kate Rawlins, reports on ITWeb that BlackBerry is updating BBM with improved group chats and added security to make it a more attractive alternative to WhatsApp.
“We are actively exploring alternatives for BlackBerry users once support of WhatsApp Messenger for BBOS and BlackBerry 10 ends in late 2016,” Rawlins quotes the company as saying.
She also points out that BBM remains popular in South Africa and other African countries, with figures from last year showing there were more than 22 million registered BBM users in Africa and over 380 million messages sent daily.
The company said over half a million new users globally installed BBM every single month, a figure that may well improve should WhatsApp stick to its guns come year end.
Will WhatsApp bow to public pressure and backtrack on the decision, or at least phase in the switch-over? I wouldn’t hold my breath. After all, it is owned by another tech giant known for trying the patience of its customers – Facebook.
– Follow Alan Cooper on Twitter @alanqcooper.
