I always said that Facebook can innovate in different ways:
1. use their already existing social graph to produce OTHER apps that are useful
2. use their tool with a new social graph
Number 2 has been done once I believe. It's called workplace. Number 1 is what Wechat is doing on steroids, and Facebook has done almost none of that. It's insane that they're not taking advantage of this and are just adding noise to the useful tool that facebook used to be.
Want to see peak WhatsApp? Check out the version of WhatsApp in India.
* Wechat is used by 1.4 billion people, Whatsapp is used by 2 billion people. Clearly both apps are popular (although Whatsapp wins).
* Wechat is used by a single market, Whatsapp is used throughout the world. Clearly one has more potential than the other.
The average WhatsApp user is worth nothing in comparison even with almost twice the user base. Last time I gave WhatsApp money was the 50 cent yearly subscription when it was still an independent product.
If something has potential, it's the one that has made billions out of that potential. Unless you think that the Chinese market doesn't matter, only the Western market does.