Facebook Home off to slow start on Google Play
Facebook Home, an Android
interface, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times from Google Play
after a little over a week of being available.
(Google Play)
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A little over a week after being released, Facebook's new interface for Android smartphones, Facebook Home, has crossed the 500,000 mark for downloads on Google Play.
The interface, installed the same way as smartphone apps, gives users' home screens a new look that focuses on their Facebook friends rather than their apps. Facebook Home removes users' lock and menu screens and replaces them with status updates and photos posted by their friends.
Facebook Home was released on April 12 alongside the HTC First, the so-called Facebook phone, and it gained its 500,000th download on Google Play over the weekend.
PHOTOS: Top 10 must-have smartphone apps
Although 500,000 is a large number, for Facebook that is somewhat of a disappointment.
The Android Instagram app, for example, was downloaded more than 1 million times in less than 24 hours after it was released on Google Play last year, and the main Facebook app for Android has been downloaded more than 100 million times.
Adding to the disappointment is the fact that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told Wired magazine that the social network decided to build Facebook Home rather than a smartphone because most smartphones only sell 10 million or 20 million units, which would be a tiny percentage of Facebook's users. Zuckerberg and Facebook officials believed that Facebook Home, which can be downloaded for free, could reach more users, which clearly has not been the case so far.
Out of the users who have downloaded Facebook Home, many have not been impressed. The interface has a rating of two out of five stars on Google Play, with most users who rated the app giving it just one star.
Among the complaints: Some users said Facebook Home drains their battery and limits what they can do with their phones. Others said they simply don't like being exposed to Facebook every time they use their device.
The upside for Facebook Home at this point may be the fact that it is only available for seven Android devices, including the yet-to-be released Samsung Galaxy S 4. The interface could gain more downloads if Facebook brings it to more smartphones as well as Android tablets.
Up 78% from low, Facebook shares climbing out of the red But for how long ???
Facebook's formerly ugly duckling stock is looking rather swan-like these days.
In a dramatic about-face, Facebook (FB) stock has transformed from Wall Street weakling into one of the market's emerging stars.Shares of the No. 1 social-media company are on a tear, blasting through the $30 level this week to close at $31.30 Thursday. Facebook shares have rocketed more than 78% from their low notched on Sept. 4, 2012, and are up almost 18% this year alone.
Investors are realizing that many of their worst fears about the company, fanned by a poorly handled initial public offering last year, are slowly becoming advantages as the company finds new ways to turn its massive audience into dollars.
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"It's a new year for Facebook," says Arvind Bhatia at Sterne Agee. Facebook stock "has been a strong performer."
The sharp and sudden jump in Facebook's shares has taken many investors by surprise, as doubts about the company's ability to compete in a world dominated by mobile devices rose. Doubts are being silenced by:
• High hopes over the company's mysterious meeting next week in Silicon Valley. The most recent spike in the stock is being fanned by the company's enigmatic announcement about a Jan. 15 event. Analysts are torn on what it might be.
An update to the company's mobile Facebook apps for smartphones and tablets is a possibility, says Colin Sebastian of Robert W. Baird. Bhatia, though, suspects Facebook might announce a search feature that will position it to take a bigger piece of the online advertising market.
• Optimism about the company's fourth-quarter profit. Facebook is expected to report its quarterly performance on Jan. 30, 2013, and investors are looking for positive news. Analysts are calling for the company to earn 15 cents a share on an adjusted basis, up from the 12 cents a share the company reported on an adjusted basis in each of the previous two quarters.
Using official accounting rules, Facebook is expected to earn 2 cents a share, reversing quarterly losses on the same basis the previous two quarters. "Investors are looking for companies with positive momentum going into 2013," Sebastian says.
• Strength of the stock off the bottom. Facebook shares were due for a rebound since they were beaten down so badly, Sebastian says. The stock's low of $17.55 set in September was a culmination of doubts about how the stock would react to the massive lockup expirations, which allowed early investors and employees to sell after the IPO, he says. Also, questions about the company's mobile strategy were a problem. Both concerns have been put to rest, Sebastian says.
Even so, the stock is yet to regain its $38-a-share May 2012 IPO price, meaning that early investors are still in the red. And while shares are down about 20% from the IPO price, they're still not cheap.
The company has a market value of more than $65 billion and trades for 158 times its trailing earnings per share excluding special items, says S&P Capital IQ. Rival Google trades for 23 times earnings on that basis.
But with Facebook's prospects brightening, the stock "looks like it still has upside," Sebastian says.
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