SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Without Facebook, Instagram Valued at $100 Billion [investopedia.com]

Did Facebook Inc. (FB) purchase Instagram for cheap? Recent valuations say so. A new estimate reveals that if Instagram were a standalone company, it would have been worth $100 billion today, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence [bloomberg.com].

The photo-sharing service recently hit 1 billion monthly active users [investopedia.com], and the steadily increasing user base is expected to shoot revenue past $10 billion over the next 12 months. While parent company Facebook is reportedly losing younger audiences, its loss has been a boon to Instagram and other social media services including Snap Inc.'s (SNAP) Snapchat, owing to features that better appeal to younger people. (See also: Aging Facebook Losing Teens: Pew Research Survey [investopedia.com].)

While Facebook continues to grow and has surpassed the 2.2 billion user milestone, Instagram is gaining new users at a rapid pace and is on course to get 2 billion users on its platform over the next five years, the study suggests. During the past year, Instagram contributed 10.6% to revenues at Facebook, per eMarketer data, while over the next year it is expected to account for around 16% of the parent company's revenue. Instagram's future growth may be accelerated by the recently launched IGTV, an iOS- and Android-supported app-based video hosting and sharing service that will compete head-on with Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) YouTube service.

Also at BGR [bgr.com], The Mercury News [mercurynews.com], and Business Insider [businessinsider.com].

Related: Facebook/Instagram vs. Twitch and YouTube [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission