Facebook compra Instagram por 1.000 millones de dólares.

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INTERNET | Aplicación de retoque fotográfico para 'smartphones'

Facebook compra Instagram por 1.000 millones de dólares

Varios logos de Facebook, vistos desde Instagram. | Afp

• El servicio actual se mantendrá sin cambios y no se frenará su desarrollo
• La compañía de Mark Zuckerberg incorporará mejoras incluidas en Instagram
• Entre ambas compañías sumarán cientos de miles de fotos publicadas cada día

Sergio Rodríguez | Madrid

Actualizado lunes 09/04/2012 22:28 horas

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Instagram, la compañía tras la popular aplicación de retoque de imágenes para 'smartphones', ha sido adquirida por Facebook por 1.000 millones de dólares en efectivo y acciones, según ha anunciado la compañía dirigida por Mark Zuckerberg. La compra no supondrá el fin de la popular aplicación, que seguirá siendo "exactamente la misma", según ha confirmado Kevin Systrom, presidente de Instagram, en el blog de Instagram.
"Trabajaremos con Facebook para evolucionar Instagram y construir la red. Seguiremos añadiendo novedades al producto y buscando nuevas maneras de crear una experiencia de fotos para móviles cada vez mejor", ha añadido Systrom, quien también ha asegurado que la aplicación mantendrá la compatibilidad con otras redes sociales.

Antes de la adquisición Instagram estaba valorada en unos 500 millones de dólares

El propio Zuckerberg ha publicado un mensaje en su perfil oficial de Facebook donde confirma su compromiso para "construir y ampliar Instagram de forma independiente" y da pistas sobre sus intenciones en torno al trabajo que podrían realizar sus desarrolladores: "Trataremos de aprender de la experiencia de Instagram para incluir características similares otros de nuestros productos".
Asimismo, el presidente de Facebook califica esta adquisición de "hito" al ser "la primera vez que adquirimos un producto y una compañía con tantos usuarios". "No planeamos hacerlo muchas más veces, si es que lo hacemos otra. Pero facilitar la mejor experiencia para compartir fotos es una de las razones por las que a tanta gente le gusta Facebook y sabíamos que valía la pena junta a estas dos compañías", explica Zuckerberg.

Una compañía de 13 personas

Aunque Facebook no acostumbra a revelar datos sobre el uso o tráfico de sus páginas, en el documento presentado para preparar su salida a bolsa reveló que entre octubre y diciembre de 2011 sus usuarios publicaron alrededor de 250 millones de fotos cada día. Una cantidad a la que se sumarán las, como mínimo, 150 millones publicadas en Instagram -hasta agosto del año pasado-. Cifra difícil de alcanzar para sus competidores. Flickr, por ejemplo, alcanzó 6.000 millones de imágenes en agosto de 2011, número que Facebook suma en sólo tres meses sin tener en cuenta a Instagram.

Mark Zuckerberg, fundador de Facebook.

Nacida en octubre de 2010, en Instagram trabajan alrededor de una docena de personas que ahora pasarán a formar parte de Facebook. Su aplicación contaba, en septiembre del año pasado, con 10 millones de usuarios activos y la reción publicada versión para fue descargada por más de un millón de personas en sólo doce horas. Hasta el momento, Facebook había recibido inversiones de capital riesgo por valor de aproximadamente 7,5 millones de dólares en las que participaban, entre otros, el fundador de Twitter, Jack Dorsey.
Precisamente tras su última ronda de financiación, concluida horas antes de la adquisición con una recaudación de 50 millones de dólares, la valoración de la compañía ascendía hasta los 500 millones de dólares, la mitad de lo ofrecido por la compañía de Marck Zuckerberg.
Con esta operación Facebook se suma al selecto club de las grandes empresas de Internet capaces de comprar compañías prometedoras a golpe de talonario bajo la promesa de seguir mejorándolas. Fue el caso de Google con YouTube -adquirida por 1.650 millones de dólares en 2006- o el de Yahoo! con Flickr -35 millones de dólares en 2005-, dos operaciones que terminaron en éxito, y es ahora el Facebook con Instagram, cuyo mayor reto será retener al talento que atesora la compañía adquirida.

Can Twitter tweak its way to the top?

SmartBrief on Social Media

Can Twitter tweak its way to the top? | Analysts: WhatsApp gives Facebook a temporary lead | Analysis: Which messaging startup will be targeted now? Created for jrnunni2@gmail.com |  Web Version

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