MANILA, Philippines – Facebook announced Monday, November 10, that its Messenger application has reached half a billion users worldwide.

In a statement, Peter Martinazzi, Director of Product Management, said the company was “more committed than ever to make it the best possible messaging experience” following reaching the 500 million user milestone.

“This is an exciting milestone but with a half billion people relying on Messenger to communicate and connect, it is also a reminder that there is so much left for us to do,” Martinazzi added.

In a recent public question and answer event, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that splitting Facebook and its Messenger service allows the company to have two apps that perform better in their respective fields.

Said Zuckerberg, the split “is a better experience and the messaging is really important. Each app can do one thing well.” – Rappler.com