Boston, MA 08/18/2014 (wallstreetpr) –Social networking site Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), which surprised many analysts’ with its strong growth in mobile app in the June quarter, has been struggling with its photo-message app. It failed to wean away users from Snapchat, which is gaining more popularity among the people and become the third most sought after social media app.
Facebook’s Interest On Snapchat
The social media company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been showing his interest on acquiring Snapchat for quite sometime and had made attempts to buy them at least thrice in the past despite being spurned by Snapchat every time, Bloomberg reported. Zuckerberg has also reportedly told that he was ready to pay $3 billion to Snapchat to close the deal last year. However, the photo-message app provider had spurned the offer and had different options to grow.
As a result, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) had to initiate its app called Poke and launched it in December 2012 by replicating the primary functions of Snapchat with photos, doodling, video and a self-destruct timer. The app also included features like the sharing of location, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s friend lists, and text messaging. What was puzzling investors and analysts’ was that Zuckerberg himself took the pains to program parts of the app apart from lending his voice to take its app before the users aggressively.
Indeed, the app generated decent interest among the consumers for few months. However, it started to fell abruptly from the top charts, Bloomberg report said quoting App Annie data.
Desperate Facebook
The recent developments in the social media company have obviously invited the attention of analysts. Altimeter Group analyst Brian Solis termed that it was unashamed attempts by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to take on fast-moving apps such as Snapchat and was certainly not the best for its public relations.
Moreover, it only sends the wrong signal to the investors, as well as, the users that the company was unable to find what was next. Alternatively, it only showed its lack of innovation. The analyst described the company’s attempts as wee-bit desperate.
Interestingly, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has also launched a similar app recently, though the company had clarified that it was purely an experimental one and not for commercial purposes. However, it clearly indicated the potential business value that can be tapped.
