A lackluster NASDAQ debut may have been just the start of Facebook’s troubles. According to Ironfire Capital founder Eric Jackson, Facebook will “disappear” by 2020.
Jackson said on “Squawk on the Street” recently, “In five to eight years they are going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared,” Jackson said. “Yahoo is still making money, it’s still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it, but it’s 10 percent of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it’s disappeared.” Jackson specifically cited Facebook’s difficulty monetizing their mobile platform as one of their biggest problems.
As we discussed in a previous post, Facebook has had difficulty making money on the mobile front. It is one of the reasons, many suspect, that the team is reportedly investigating the concept of a Facebook-centric smartphone. But yesterday, the social networking giant announced that it was introducing mobile-only sponsored stories, opening up its advertising reach to its 500 million monthly active mobile users.
What is your take on this prediction? Is the announcement of the mobile-only sponsored stories a sign that Facebook will be able to adapt and thrive in the mobile world? Or will Zuckerberg and company go the way of Yahoo or even Friendster? Share your thoughts with us!
