As the likes of Samsung, HTC and Apple ponder on what could really be the reason for their dwindling returns, Facebook is over the moon thanks to impressive figures that the company released during its recent Q3 2016 earnings call.
Apple is not enjoying the smartphone market at all, something that has been on for quite some time now. The story is the same for Samsung, especially after the South Korean tech giant suffered what could be the greatest setback in their history with the failed Galaxy Note 7. However, Facebook has Internet.org to thank for its continued dominance over these major names in the same tech world.
As at the time of this writing, Facebook has a user base of more than 1.79 billion people across the globe. Apparently, the social networking giant says that 40 million of these people have made it to the platform thanks to the heroics of Internet.org. The service also contributed to the user base growth based on a monthly watch where it jumped from 3.63% to 4.67% during the just-concluded quarter.
With Internet.org, Facebook has been able to offer millions of people in developing countries access to Free Basics app as well as Express Wi-Fi hubs. But this not all as Facebook wants to ensure that all parts of the world can be part of the growing internet using giant solar-powered drones and satellites.
There are many developing countries where data is very costly or rather, there are no unlimited data plans. It is also easy to come across some regions which have zero access to the internet. These are the regions that Facebook is targeting with its Internet.org program. Despite facing a number of resistances in different markets, most notably India, with many citing unfair competition, the company says that Internet.org has grown by 166% in the past one year.
In July 2014, there were about 3 million people connecting to the through the service. This figure rose to 15 million last year and this time it stands at 40 million. If Facebook’s Free Basics service keeps growing at this rate, the company could achieve its dream of making the world a global village.