Meta Says Data Price Hikes Limited Facebook User Growth in India

Increase in data rates in India limited the user growth of Meta (formerly Facebook) in the December 2021 quarter, the social media major said. Telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio had increased their mobile service rates in the range of 18 to 25 percent in the December quarter. The profit of Meta declined by 8 percent to $10.28 billion (roughly Rs. 76,800 crore) in the December 2021 quarter, from $11.21 billion (roughly Rs. 83,800 crore) in the same period a year ago.

"Facebook user growth was impacted by a few headwinds in the fourth quarter. In Asia-Pacific and Rest of World, we believe Covid resurgences during prior periods pulled forward user growth. User growth in India was also limited by an increase in data package pricing.

"In addition to these factors, we believe competitive services are negatively impacting growth, particularly with younger audiences," Meta's Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner said during an earnings call.

Its monthly active users (MAUs), however, grew 4 percent on an annual basis to 2.91 billion, while daily active users (DAUs) increased 5 percent to 1.93 billion, as of December 31, 2021.

For its family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, monthly active people base increased by 9 percent year-on-year to 3.59 billion and daily active people base rose 8 percent on an average to 2.82 billion.

The total revenue of Meta jumped by 20 percent to $33.67 billion (roughly Rs. 2,51,600 crore) during the quarter, from $28 billion (roughly Rs. 2,09,200 crore) in the same period of 2020.

For the year ended December 31, Meta's net profit increased by 35 percent to $39.37 billion (roughly Rs. 2,94,300), compared to $29.15 billion (roughly Rs. 2,17,800 crore) in 2020.

Total revenue climbed 37 percent to $117.92 billion (roughly Rs. 8,81,200 crore) for the year 2021 from $85.96 (roughly Rs. 6,49,900 crore) billion in 2020.