Is The Facebook Phone Next?

Several years ago I was with a friend at a steakhouse in Berlin and right outside our window were a few huge billboards promoting the Motorola Razr phone. Our discussion that evening seemed to focus mostly on mobile and where the market was headed. It’s amazing how quickly technology has advanced over the past two years. This morning we took a look at the Google Nexus One supersmartphone. Those Razr billboards promoted both Motorola and the Razr device. I was unable to find any information on the Nexus One ordering site that provided information about the phone’s manufacturer (which is HTC).

After posting the Nexus One story, I wrote “facebook phone” on my story ideas pad. This afternoon blogger Robert Scoble also mentioned the idea of a Facebook phone and that some sort of phone with an Android operating system was a possibility.

Back to the Facebook phone in a minute. Are the days of manufacturer-branded phones numbered? What I mean is that in the near future we will buy branded phones. For example, instead of a Nokia 9100A, will we buy the Bing phone (which is manufactured by Nokia). When I walk around Times Square, there are many billboards for HTC and their phones. Does anyone actually care who manufacturers the phone anymore? Does the average consumer select a phone because it’s a Motorola or a Samsung? Or do they select a phone based on the features, software, apps, etc. that are available and most importantly, the device cost. It’s the same reason why I believe Intel is wasting money buying bloggers for their Insiders campaign.

Alright, let’s get back to the idea of a Facebook phone. Would average consumers purchase a phone that offers very smooth functionality for a social network? My overall answer is yes. While Facebook’s lifespan might be only a few more years, right now they are at the top of the mountain. I’ve seen many ads for phones that have social networking features but it wouldn’t be the same as a phone that is built for Facebook. Like Robert I assume it would be built with an open operating system to allow developers to build on top of the Facebook mobile platform. It will also give Facebook more strength to develop relationships with other large companies who will want to be on the device.

I could imagine both Nokia and Motorola going after a deal to manufacture the Facebook phone. Both manufacturers need a boost – read most mobile blogs and Nokia really needs to get back into the spotlight. Motorola had the spotlight for a couple of weeks with the Droid but unless they drop the price bigtime, I would assume most consumers will go for the Nexus One because of the Google name — especially with both devices on the same Verizon network.

Update: Patricia Handschiegel discusses Facebook and telecom last year.

Another wild idea would be the creation of a SalesForce phone manufactured by Blackberry. From my perspective, we will see more branded phones over the next 18-24 months. The manufacturers will want the added boost from the brand sticker and the brands will be happy to take the cash and the added exposure.