The oft-rumoured Facebook phone is in the news again. Microsoft is reportedly hoping that Facebook will use Windows Phone for this device. It appears that discussions have not gone very far yet as Microsoft is “hanging around the hoop,” waiting for Facebook to really focus on this project. Not only would such a project offer deeper Facebook integration than seen on current Windows Phone devices but it would also offer a different branding. As an example, we could see something like “The Facebook Phone, powered by Windows.”
Citing “a single source briefed on Microsoft’s mobile strategy,” BusinessInsider adds that Microsoft will offer three major reasons for Facebook to partner with it:
- We’re not Google.
- We know what to do and how to do it. Making a phone is not easy. You have to develop the OS, get manufacturers to build handsets for it, get carriers to carry it, market it, sell it, and ship it. Facebook has no idea how to do any of this. Microsoft does, and it will offer to help Facebook with all of it.
- We know everyone. Microsoft has relationships across the industry. Samsung, HTC, and Nokia are already making Windows Phones. LG was. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon are already carrying the phones. Microsoft spends hundreds of millions of dollars with ad agencies every year. It’s working with a logistics firm, Brightpoint, to get the product shipped to stores efficiently.
Other Business Insider sources call the story “plausible, logical, and even likely” but are unable to corroborate it.
Past rumours have proposed a number of different scenarios for the Facebook phone. Facebook could develop its own operating system or could instead use Android. It could even follow in Amazon’s footsteps (with the Kindle Fire) and use its own forked version of Android. Facebook was even rumoured to have considered buying webOS from HP. More recent rumours have partnered Facebook with HTC.
Read more: Business Insider