In the aftermath of Facebook’s bungled IPO, a list of questions remain about the social network’s plans to profit. And at the top of this list is a question we saw time and time again during the IPO build up: How does Facebook monetize its growing mobile trend?
According to a recent New York Times report, Facebook has its answer: a Facebook Smartphone, set to be released by 2013.
The Times report, citing a number of anonymous sources affiliated with Facebook, claims the company is beefing up an engineering team tasked with building its own cell phone. This would be Facebook’s third attempt at a smartphone: its first effort failed in 2010, and then last year, it was reported that a partnership had been entered with smartphone manufacturer HTC to create a phone code-named “Buffy.”
Now, the Buffy team has reportedly been expanded, and the smartphone effort seems stronger than ever. But is the Facebook smartphone a good idea? Henry Blodget, CEO and editor-in-chief of Business Insider, doesn’t think so and he joins to explain why.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.