Its no secret that the HTC First a.k.a ‘Facebook Phone’ turned out to be a flop. Essentially a mid-range Android smartphone, the HTC First was the only smartphone that shipped with Facebook Home pre-installed. For a few smartphones, Facebook Home is currently available as a standalone app from Google Play Store. The UK release of this device has been postponed indefinitely while it hasn’t seen much consumer interest in U.S. as well. Samsung is said to have recently rejected a proposal for building a Facebook Phone of its own and now Digitimes reports various other manufacturers are shying away from the idea as well.
Sony, Lenovo, ZTE, HTC and Huawei were said to hold a wait-and-see attitude and once they saw how badly HTC First did in the market, they lost interest in a similar project. Instead these manufacturers are now reportedly focusing on improving the functionality and user interface of their own home pages. The devices these manufacturers make run custom skins on top of Android, they’re now said to be making them better, and are likely not to develop Facebook Home enabled smartphones.
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