Industry speculation has been on the rise about a new cell phone developed by Facebook.
Some confirmed sources have released that Facebook has chosen HTC to help develop a phone that has the functionality of Facebook down to the core. The phone will essentially sport a Facebook operating system (despite the fact that it will be running Android). It is assumed that contacts, photos, messaging, and apps would all derive from the social media platform.
It is also expected that Skype will be deeply embedded in the phone’s OS, especially since the two companies have forged a working partnership as of late.
So what does this mean for consumers? For businesses?
Consumers will continue to get deeper and deeper into the proverbial Facebook “rabbit hole” by now relying on Facebook for a method of communication (more so than they already do). They will use pages to track down and find businesses in the area (as it will likely tap into geo-location). Consumers of this phone will be Facebook super-users and rely almost solely on the information Facebook provides.
Businesses will have to get on board with Facebook if they want to be competitive. If users will be using Facebook to find local businesses, those businesses must be listed in order to show up. It will become a standard business model to include advertising (whether paid or simply by interaction via pages) on Facebook.
The ever expanding Facebook platform will continue to shape the way consumers interact with businesses and how businesses react with both current and potential customers.