Shares in troubled BlackBerry jumped 6% overnight after Facebook’s mammoth $19 billion (£11 billion) takeover of instant messaging sensation WhatsApp highlighted the potential value of its rival BBM service.
Analysts pointed out that the Facebook deal valued each of WhatsApp’s 450 million-plus users at $43 each. By contrast, they said, each BBM user was valued at just $3. This, in part, reflects the rapid migration of largely young mobile users to newer messaging systems. But it also highlights that the new BlackBerry management could look at selling or floating BBM off separately to emphasise its value.
BlackBerry shares in after-market trading last night rose to around $9.54 in New York, still well below the $148 peak of 2008 before it started losing out to Apple’s iPhones and devices powered by Google’s Android system.
The WhatsApp deal stunned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Silicon Valley peers, with one calling him “the most badass CEO of all time.”
