In the wake of its IPO, social networking giant could be ramping its mobile plans back up
With the financial world raising questions about Facebook's future profitability prospects, the social media company is reported to be pushing ahead with its long-time plans to produce its own mobile phone. According to its sources, The New York Times says that Facebook — which dropped $1 billion to acquire mobile photo app Instagram earlier this year — could introduce its own phone by 2013.
Facebook has hired a team comprised of engineers who helped make the iPhone, the iPad, and other mobile devices to design its phone, the report says. At least one member of the group has been in face-to-face meetings with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who's said to be concerned that, if the company doesn't produce its own handset, it will be forever known as just an app.
The new phone project would be the third Facebook has undertaken since 2010. Its previous efforts have all stalled, although the company has worked with other phone makers, notably HTC, which introduced the HTC Status in 2011 — a handset with a physical keyboard and dedicated Facebook button.
This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca
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