Facebook Lite: Trials and Tribulations of Connecting the World
By June Liu '18
With Fa
cebook Lite reaching 100 million users in just nine months after its release, Facebook has reached a new milestone in its mission of making the world more open and connected. Facebook Lite, as its name suggests, is a less than 1MB version of the full 42MB Facebook app designed for users in emerging markets without high-speed Internet or cutting edge smartphones. Thanks to the app’s ability to use less data, Facebook Lite users can download quickly and save memory space on their phones. The Android-exclusive app currently stands as Facebook’s fastest-growing mobile app. Available in 150 countries, Facebook Lite is most popular in India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines.
With Facebook Lite’s growing popularity, Facebook has recently updated the app to include features such as emojis, video playback, multiple photo uploads, and pinch-to-zoom photos. Although Facebook Lite does currently feature some ads, in the future Facebook should fully flesh out an advertising strategy in emerging markets in order to generate more revenue. Facebook could also think about creating a scaled-back version of the Instagram app.
Among tech companies, Facebook is currently the leader in operating in emerging markets and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a strong proponent of connecting the developing world to all that the Internet has to offer. However, regulatory forces have stood in his way. Last month, Facebook’s Free Basics service was banned in India. Free Basics provided users with free Internet access to a selection of websites, one of them being Facebook. The controversy behind the service stemmed from its limitations. The general public in India perceived Free Basics as going against the open nature of the Internet. These sentiments led to live protests and even a campaign called “Save the Internet.” Indian regulators ultimately blocked Free Basics, citing its violation of net neutrality, the principle of allowing equal access to all content on the Internet.
Free Basics, which falls under the company’s Internet.org initiative, was part of Facebook’s push for a free internet plan to take on Google in India and other developing countries. The revenue Facebook has generated in India in the last year is negligible compared to its $12.5 billion in global sales. This can be attributed to the fact that 70% of the advertising budget of marketers in India are spent on Google, which sees large annual revenues in India. Thus, Facebook’s next goal with Facebook Lite would be to attract more advertisers, as the company still earns less than $0.13 per user in India, its second-largest market. In the United States, Facebook earns $9.41 per user.
Growing Facebook Lite in India and other emerging markets indeed stands as an achievement for Facebook. But now that advertisers have greater access to consumers in emerging markets, an important focus for Facebook going forward is to translate its larger user base into more revenue opportunities. What could stand in Facebook’s way, however, is keeping Facebook Lite small while growing its features and advertising. Additionally, the regulatory obstacles that Facebook has faced with its services will likely intensify as Facebook expands its presence in emerging markets.
Sources:
http://www.cnet.com/news/data-cheap-facebook-lite-hits-100-million-users-in-the-developing-world/