Facebook's growth is apparently unstoppable
It had 1.59 billion monthly active users and $5.84 billion in revenue last quarter.
Facebook continues its upward trajectory with a very successful fourth quarter last year. Today, the social network reported that it had a revenue of $5.84 billion and had about 1.59 billion monthly active users in last quarter alone. This is a decent increase over the previous quarter, where it had 1.55 billion users, and an impressive 14 percent increase over this time last year. And that $5.84 billion? It's a whopping 52 percent increase year-over-year. Taken as a whole, that means Facebook had a revenue of $17.93 billion in 2015, which is a 44 percent increase from 2014.
As always, a good chunk of that money comes from mobile: About 80 percent, to be exact. Which isn't surprising, considering that Facebook also enjoyed 1.44 billion mobile monthly users last quarter. What's even more impressive is that Facebook kept the trend for daily active users -- as of last quarter, an average of 1.04 billion people used Facebook every day, and 934 million of those people were on mobile.
On the earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg went further into a few details. He said that more than one billion people used Facebook's Groups last year, and brought up the trend of folks using the social network to connect over the big events of the year like the refugee crisis and the Paris attacks. In particular, he said that more than 950 million people used a Safety Check feature to let folks know they were safe. He also said that 500 million people use the site for Events every month and about 123 million events were created in 2015.
Much of the growth last quarter also had to do with Facebook connecting the developing world. Zuckerberg said that 80 million people use Facebook Lite, which is the lightweight version of the site for less sophisticated mobile phones. COO Sheryl Sandberg also pointed to the recent efforts made to increase video advertising for lower bandwidth mobile devices, which tend to be more prevalent in those countries.
Speaking of video, Zuckerberg said that video continues to be an "important part of the Facebook experience" and will invest more in the area. He said that people have watched over a 100 million hours of video on Facebook and the company is working on ways for users to discover even more. There could even be a dedicated section for people who just want to watch videos, he said.
Of course, Facebook is more than just the big blue app; it also owns Whatsapp, Instagram and there's Messenger too. Last quarter, the company reported that Whatsapp now has 900 million users, Instagram has 400 million users and Messenger has 800 million users. The Messenger platform seems especially intriguing, as it's now more than just a place for conversations -- Facebook is now testing it so you could use it with the M digital assistant and you can even order transportation through it thanks to a partnership with Uber. Zuckerberg said that the company is even working with airlines so you could potentially check-in with a flight reservation just by using Messenger.
Last but certainly not least, it's also worth noting that Facebook owns Oculus. Zuckerberg has said he's very pleased with the initial reactions to products like the Samsung Gear VR as well as the new consumer-grade Oculus Rift, which has recently announced its pre-order price. "VR is going to be a big area of investment for us. It's going to change how we're going to communicate, work and play games," he said. "We're off to a good start."
