Zuckerberg: Facebook Building a Phone Wouldn't Make Sense

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Zuckerberg denies rumors that Facebook's building a phone (but conveniently doesn't mention the possibility of a third party doing the building).

We've been hearing talk of a Facebook-branded phone for months. Most recently, Bloomberg cited 'people with knowledge of the matter' that said Facebook and HTC were preparing to launch a phone in mid-2013. However, today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shot down reports of a Facebook smartphone, claiming it wouldn't make any sense for the social network to produce a phone.

SlashGear reports that Zuckerberg's remarks were made during an earnings call yesterday. The 28-year-old responded to questions about the possibility of Facebook building their own phone with the following statement:

"There are lots of things that you can build in other operating systems as well that aren't really building out a whole phone, which I think really wouldn't make much sense for us to do," Zuckerberg said. "We want to support a development ecosystem where other apps can build on top of Facebook."

The fact that Zuckerberg referenced supporting developers indicates that the company is more interested in working with developers on applications built for Facebook. However, the wording of Zuckerberg's statement also leaves the company a bit of wiggle room if it is (or should it ever) decide to produce its own phone. You see, Zuckerberg has said it wouldn't make sense for Facebook to build a phone, but he hasn't said anything about partnering with a third party to build a phone, has he?

HTC refused to comment on this week's rumor that the two companies were working together on a phone. Facebook's statement on the matter revealed the companies commitment to work with 'the entire mobile industry' on its mobile strategy.

"Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social," Facebook said in a statement to Bloomberg. "We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world."

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Jane McEntegart
20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • of course that doesn't make any sense. faceboook couldn't even make a better website. a phone would be too much for them.
    Reply
  • math1337
    What can a facebook phone do that a normal phone with facebook can't? Android is so open that there is no reason for FB to go into the complexities of making a facebook phone.
    Reply
  • nebun
    if building a phone doesn't make sense then why in the hell can't I remove the stupid facebook app from my phone?....i guess they need a proprietary phone after all...such hypocrisy
    Reply
  • nebun
    math1337What can a facebook phone do that a normal phone with facebook can't? Android is so open that there is no reason for FB to go into the complexities of making a facebook phone.android isn't really all that open...if it was then we could removed all the crap we don't need in the same way we don on computers
    Reply
  • Chainzsaw
    IMO facebook will be all downhill from now. I'm not trying to say it's going to completely fail, but I think eventually it will just become another Yahoo (where it used to be massively popular, and now they are just floundering/getting by).

    Even though they have a lot of users, people are starting to turn their attention to other things now. Not to mention their IPO fiasco didn't really help their image.

    Even though Toms has a facebook icon on their website (as does nearly every website these days it seems), I don't bother using FB anymore. I would rather see my friends face to face then chat/post on some website where all the data can be seen if you don't have proper security settings set.
    Reply
  • sonofliberty08
    fgs76453of course that doesn't make any sense. faceboook couldn't even make a better website. a phone would be too much for them.maybe they can make a toy phone
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    Yeah, I never understood all these rumors of a "Facebook phone." It's a big leap to go from FB working with engineers that have worked on/within phones to "ZOMG, FB is making a phone!!!"
    Reply
  • alexthager
    I find this rumor a little odd. Sure Garmin made a phone, but why a social network? Since Facebook has been working with Apple in adding true integration, what's the point for creating a separate device? Speculating that someone else may manufacture and design a "Facebook Phone" seems a little farfetched.
    Reply
  • cookoy
    i can understand phones being classified by the OS they run, like Android, Windows, Symbian, iOS. But not by an application.
    Reply
  • Camikazi
    nebunandroid isn't really all that open...if it was then we could removed all the crap we don't need in the same way we don on computersBlame the carriers for that, they are the ones who insist on making those apps non-removable.
    Reply