Facebook Phone would be welcomed by 31pc of emerging market consumers

Hotly anticipated Facebook Phone likely to be most successful in emerging markets.
With Facebook expected to announce its first ever Facebook smartphone later on today (April 4th), mobile monetisation firm Upstream has revealed that a Facebook Phone would be most widely welcomed in emerging markets, according to its latest research.
At 18.00 GMT today, Facebook is welcoming press to its California HQ, where it is thought that a Facebook Phone made by HTC will be unveiled.
Running the Android operating system, the device would offer a host of exclusive features based around the social network.
So, if today’s announcement does indeed mark the arrival of a Facebook Phone, where would it be most likely to prosper?
Well, according to new research from Upstream, the world’s emerging markets would be the most ready to welcome such a device. The firm’s Emerging Market Mobile Attitudes report saw 31 per cent of respondents from across Nigeria, India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil state that they would like to purchase a phone deisnged by a social network.
Furthermore, 70 per cent of respondents from emerging markets also claimed that they want to access social media networks via their mobiles.
However, only 12 per cent of respondents said that they would be happy with Facebook Zero – a text-only version of the social network.
Elsewhere, the report found that 19 per cent of respondents from emerging markets are happy to receive advertising over their mobile phone daily, and that 31 per cent would trust mobile network operators most when receiving promotional messages over mobile.
“Since its IPO last year, Facebook’s business model has increasingly turned to mobile, with mobile advertising recognised as the major revenue generator for the social network,” said Marco Veremis, CEO, Upstream. “It’s first step into the mobile hardware ecosystem will be particularly welcomed by consumers within emerging markets – who depend on their mobile devices to connect to the Internet and to participate in social networks. In fact, recent research results show that consumers across these regions have a huge appetite for social media connectivity – with 31 per cent of emerging market consumers stating they specifically desire a ‘social media phone’, designed by the social network with relevant apps and content already pre-loaded.
“However Facebook should tread carefully. Consumers in the UK and US have already expressed frustrations about the levels of advertising they receive. So far Facebook has recognised that the growth in impressions available to marketers as mobile penetration grows does not equate to bombarding people with advertising. While emerging market consumers may be more amenable to mobile ads, heightened or intrusive advertising is not the way forward,” he concluded.

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