The Other Facebook News: One Billion Mobile Users
Facebook followers could be forgiven for being fixated by the $2 billion deal to acquire the virtual reality company Oculus. — But another disclosure from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday is also worthy of attention …
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook’s $2 billion Oculus agreement has framed the company’s effort to identify the next computing platform after mobile, part of a broader race among big tech companies for what follows smartphones. The mobile-user disclosure shows that Facebook is pursuing that longer-term bet from a billion-user phone distribution base.
Facebook also has announced Connectivity Lab under Internet.org, linking its consumer reach to efforts involving drones, satellites and lasers for internet access.
First-order effects
- Facebook’s billion mobile users become a defined distribution base for its core service, while Connectivity Lab extends its strategic interest to bringing more people online.
- The Oculus acquisition gives Facebook a separate position in virtual reality while its mobile audience remains at far larger scale.
Second-order effects
- Facebook’s combination of mobile scale and an Oculus bet intensifies the contest with other large technology companies seeking the platform after mobile.
- Internet-access efforts make connectivity infrastructure more relevant to Facebook’s growth strategy, alongside its apps and device-platform investments.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern holds, competition for the next computing platform will center not only on devices and software, but also on control of audience distribution and the routes by which new users get online.
The trend: Large technology companies are pairing dominant mobile audiences with investments in the hardware and connectivity layers that may define computing after smartphones.