The Future of Facebook Inc (FB), 3 Key Areas [INFOGRAPHIC]
In the wake of extraordinary financial results for the year ending 2015 producing revenues of $17.93 billion dollars, the world’s leading social media giant celebrates its 12th anniversary this year in 2016. Since its inception in a Harvard University dormitory in 2004, it has had an extraordinary rise in the world of technology and social media.
We have only to look at some of the phenomenal user numbers associated with the brand. These include 1.5 billion core Facebook users, 900 million WhatsApp users, 700 million Messenger users, 700 million users of Groups and 400 million Instagram users.
In 2012, Facebook announced its bid for IPO status amid a flurry of questions from industry professionals who cast doubt on whether the company could actually ever be profitable. Yet, four short years later, all doubts have been cast aside as Facebook has cemented itself as the leader in the field of not only social media, but a driver of developing technologies as well. These include; virtual reality, artificial intelligence and internet connectivity to the most remote regions of the world.
Facebook believes virtual reality will be the next major technology people will use to communicate with each other. As a result, it acquired Oculus VR in March 2014 for $2 billion dollars and began its consumer release of Oculus Rift headsets to the hard-core gaming community in January 2016. The company has a five to ten year roadmap for Oculus VR.
Facebook is also developing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to help it understand what matters to its users and in 2013 it set up a lab dedicated to developing AI. Outside of this, Facebook is committed to connecting the last 10% of the world’s land mass that is not able to connect to the Internet at all by using drone and laser technology via its Internet.org project.
For more on how Facebook has grown in the past 12 years and its focus for the future, have a look at this infographic produced by One Productions.
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