Facebook may not have been the first social media site but it definitely was the one that revolutionized it. Facebook has managed to integrate itself into practically every facet of modern online life and, despite recent stock market troubles, it looks like it’s going to stay that way for a long time to come. Now, it looks like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and team are looking at expanding their reach even more by creating their own Facebook phone.
According to reports from Bloomberg, Facebook is planning to partner up with telecom giant HTC to build their own Facebook smartphone. “People knowledgeable in the matter” say that we could see this phone out as early as mid 2013:
“The companies had intended to release the device as early as the end of this year, and pushed back the timetable to give HTC more time to work on other products, said some of the people, who requested anonymity because the plans aren’t public. Facebook is also developing a modified operating system for the device and has assembled a team of former Apple Inc. (AAPL) programmers to improve its iPhone application, people said.”
Currently, Facebook has close to 1 billion users worldwide. Bloomberg speculates that the introduction of a Facebook phone could help “woo marketers and assuage concerns dragging on the company’s shares.”
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Victor Anthony believes that more and more users are turning to mobile but companies have yet to monetize that traffic source. Anthony says that phones are devices that phones are now so closely integrated to the Facebook experience that this is just a move that makes sense. “They could then put a lot of ads onto the platform.”
Would Facebook and HTC’s partnership prove to be a welcome addition to the growing number of smartphones out there? What can Facebook do to distinguish their unit from the competition? Share your thoughts in the comments below