I talk to Marketplace in advance of the Facebook phone announcement.
A Facebook phone: Why?
Posted on by Rakesh Agrawal
Published by Rakesh Agrawal
Rakesh Agrawal is Senior Director of product at Amazon (Audible). Previously, he launched local and mobile products for Microsoft and AOL. He tweets at @rakeshlobster. View all posts by Rakesh Agrawal
Rocky – What are your thoughts on FB phone as a product/platform aimed at ROW (i.e., not US or EU markets). I can see it as a massive growth opportunity for FB in geos like India, East Asia, Africa(?) where mobile connectivity is much more pervasive than wifi. And in many cases, where people’s relationships with their phones are deeper than US/EU.
Almost think FB could monetize mobile much better in these markets where commerce, not Ads, could be a dominant revenue driver.
Totally agree. Best play for FB in mobile is a ~$100 unsubsidized phone for international markets.
If this is FB’s goal, it’d make a lot sense why it didn’t come out 2 years ago like everyone expected:
They can use the components & hardware of 2 years ago to hit your price-point…and software they didn’t have then as an OS foundation.
Kinda hoping the US/EU get the shaft now and it launches elsewhere first 🙂