Mark Zuckerberg who is in Korea met with Samsung Electronics executives on Tuesday including the heir Lee Jay-yong and mobile unit chief Shin Jong-kyun to ask Samsung to manufacture a “Facebook-friendly” phone, industry watchers said.
Facebook has every intention of becoming the second Google, and with that intent in mind, Zuckerberg is said to have asked Samsung to step up cooperation by launching a phone with a Facebook interface.
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Facebook Home is a modification for Android devices that adds a Facebook-powered layer to your home screen. Instead of your normal home screen with all your apps, you see a bunch of photos from your Facebook friends. You can like and comment on those photos directly from the lock screen without opening up the separate Facebook app.
Unfortunately, Facebook Home appears not to be doing well. The sales of the HTC First, the only phone to ship with Facebook Home out of the box, are pretty dismal. The app also has bad reviews in the Google Play app store. Finally, there’s been talk that AT&T will stop selling the First soon.
Based on that information, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Samsung doesn’t want to risk making its own Facebook Home phone until it has more evidence that people enjoy the platform.
Samsung doesn’t want to help nurture a second Google, which is now becoming a formidable rival for Samsung in the handset business.
Google last year acquired Motorola Mobility and is now expected to roll out the Moto X phone.
Prior to his visit to the Samsung headquarters, Zuckerberg met with President Park Geun-hye, who has been stressing the importance of creating a creative economy based on the foundation of advanced and integrated information technology and communication.
Source: Korea Herald, Business Insider
