Facebook's Zuckerberg: "We're Not Going To Build A Phone"

Facebook is a mobile company, but stop asking Mark Zuckerberg about the phone thing already.

On its fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, the Facebook CEO and founder may have said the word "mobile" 1.59 billion times, but that legendary Facebook phone is just a fairy tale. "People keep on asking if we're going to build a phone," said Zuckerberg. "We're not going to build a phone."

Mobile Is Just Starting To Make MoneyAnd why would it ever need to? Between Instagram and its own apps, Facebook already owns over 25% of the time that users in the U.S. spend on mobile devices. It overtook Google Maps last October as the most popular smartphone app in the U.S. According to Facebook's Q4 earnings numbers, mobile ads on those apps are starting to pay off. 

Facebook Is Already On Your PhoneFacebook is already a massive mobile platform - it doesn't need its own device or operating system to drive its mobile revenue efforts. Its ultra-sticky mobile apps are already in your hands on just about every mobile device possible, Trojan horse style. 

Besides, adding hardware to the mix would be beyond messy. For a cautionary tale, just look at Google's Nexus 4 woes - and that's coming from a company with a much deeper understanding of mobile than Facebook. 

Finally, Facebook says it's plenty happy with its ongoing relationships with Android and iOS. Zuckerberg noted that the mobile team has enjoyed the deep integration that's possible in Android's far more open ecosystem, but that he's been very pleased with the direct rapport between his company and Apple too.As of iOS 6, Facebook has achieved extremely deep iOS integration - for an Apple outsider, anyhow.

Why would Facebook build a phone when it's already infiltrated the lion's share of mobile devices?
It wouldn't - so stop asking. The HTC Status is as close as we're ever gonna get to a Facebook phone... and we all know how that went. 

Phone users in the U.S. now can speak to each other directly for free through Facebook's Messenger app, an extension of a recent test rollout conducted in Canada. Voice carriers have little to fear just yet, said Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners. However, "the world largest social media platform could easily become the world largest wireless provider."
Facebook rolled out free voice calling in the U.S. through the Facebook Messenger app for iPhone on Wednesday -- with little fanfare or formality.

There was no grand announcement -- media outlets noticed the new development and after inquiries, Facebook said it was an extension of the VoIP in Messenger test it launched earlier this year in Canada.

The feature works within the Facebook Messenger app on the iPhone. Users can place a call to contacts from the conversation list if that person has Messenger for iOS as well -- not just the Facebook app. The call goes over data networks or WiFi, instead of the voice service the carrier provides.

A Facebook spokesperson was not immediately available to comment for this story.
A Cutting-Edge MoveIt is a savvy move on Facebook's part, Paul Levinson, professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University, told MacNewsWorld.

"By doing this, Facebook is instantly allying itself with the cutting edge of the smartphone revolution -- a revolution in which it needs to be more of an active participant, rather than just a destination to reach on the phone."

The free part of the offering is bound to be attractive to users with unlimited data plans, Bruce White, professor of computer information systems at Quinnipiac University told MacNewsWorld. "What is especially appealing to this is that instead of using your voice minutes, it uses your unlimited data access"

Sometimes You Want to Hear a VoiceThe offering also fills a hole in social-media communication that, for all its popularity, is still quite noticeable: sometimes people want to talk, not just hit "Like" or make clever comments about posts.

"Let's look at a scenario," White said. "You are on Facebook and one of your close friends has just posted that they are engaged. You can post "congratulations" to them on Facebook, but you really want to talk to them. So, with a click, you call them through this new service."

Plus, he continued, it is faster than the alternative, which is reading the announcement, then pulling out the phone, finding the friend's number and so on.

For Facebook, the app has the advantage of keeping users on the site that much longer, he added.

Facebook vs. the CarriersIn short, the move appears to be initial steps for a larger wireless play by Facebook. Carriers won't likely be impacted in the short term but the long-term possibilities may cause them some sleepless nights, Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners, told MacNewsWorld.

"If Facebook is able to deliver this capability on all major mobile platforms and allows its users at some point to call to any phone number -- landline, mobile or otherwise -- then the world largest social media platform could easily become the world largest wireless provider," he said.

"Current carriers would be marginalized by simply delivering the bandwidth to enable a user experience that is created, enhanced and owned by Facebook," according to Scherer.

The DrawbacksThat day -- if it comes at all, though -- is far off, at least based on what Facebook is currently offering. The new service has a number of limitations, starting with the fact that it is only available to iPhone users, Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano, told MacNewsWorld. Also, to connect, both parties need to be using the Messenger app.

"The biggest hurdle, and why this won't be a threat to mobile operators, is unlike Skype, if the person you want to reach isn't online, there's no outbound calling to a landline or mobile as there's no interaction with the information on how to reach you from inside your Facebook profile."

What this offers Facebook users is instant voice if the person is online and available, Abramson said. "This type of presence-based calling has been around for a very long time so I don't see it as breakthrough."