iMessage Announced as a BBM Clone – Going After the Expensive Text Messages and WhatsApp

Apple’s WWDC 2011 is going on right now and iOS5 is being announced and demoed. One feature in particular that I am interested in is iMessage.

iMessage looks to be Apple’s version of BlackBerry Messenger. It will do standard text messages, but also adds the ability to message any iOS device – iPods and iPads included. Now, if I can send a message from one wifi iPod to another wifi iPod, it can’t be using a telecom’s text message protocol. I wonder if the same is true for iPhone-iPhone messages.

If this is indeed true, it looks like text message revenue is about to go through the floor. Why pay for all those extra text messages when you can get them free with iMessage?

The second interesting bit is that now apps like WhatsApp have to tout their cross-platform nature. WhatsApp is a $0.99 app that is available on multiple platforms and allows sending text-like messages between users of WhatsApp. The messages are of course free, which means it can be a useful app if you send a lot of messages and have friends on the service. Because one of the biggest value propositions of WhatsApp is free messaging, it could be in some trouble now that iMessage seems to be setting itself up for free iOS-iOS messaging.