Facebook Inc.’s share price up, plans further expansion after reaching 100 million active users in India

Facebook Inc., the leading social network globally, made an official announcement that it has surpassed 100 million active users in India. This proved that India has become social networking groups second-largest national market after the U.S., where such a number has been achieved.

This is a considerable growth, given the 8 million users the company had in the middle of 2010. The worlds largest social network also revealed that it has set a new objective in the region – one billion users.

As reported by the Economic Times, Facebooks official Javier Olivan confirmed companys intentions of global growth, saying: “Now, we look forward to 1 billion in India – thats a different focus and challenge.”

Recently, the company has focused on expanding its reach in emerging markets and attracting more users with its services provided on mobile devices. In February 2014 the company has invested 19 billion dollars on the acquisition of chat app WhatsApp, which has 40 million active subscribers in India. It was part of companys larger plans to expand its positions in a fast-growing segment, gained popularity among younger users in emerging economies. 84 million of Facebooks 100 million users in India access the social networking site via mobile devices.

Facebook Incs head of growth and mobile partnerships in India has hinted about the plans of further expansion, saying that the company had “only just begun” with the process in the region.

As reported by Financial Times, the Chief Executive Officer of Jana, a technology developer, Mr. Nathan Eagle commented on Facebooks plans for India: “At the end of the day it’s their most important market. It’s inevitable that India will be their largest market in terms of daily active users and that will likely happen this year.” He also added “Average revenue per user is also growing rapidly. It’s because large global brands are doubling down. [For instance,] Unilever know their future revenue growth is not coming from where I’m sitting in North America … Their future business depends on countries such as India.”

According to Financial Times, shares of Facebook Inc. gained 2.18% to close at 58.19 USD on NASDAQ yesterday, while companys one-year return rate was 116.73%. According to data published by CNN Money, the 40 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Facebook Inc. have a median target of 74.00, with a high estimate of 90.00 and a low estimate of 60.00. The median estimate represents a +27.17% increase from the last price of 58.19.