Facebook Phone Coming, Apple Cutting iPhone 5 Orders?

We have been hearing about Facebook bringing its own phone to the market for quite some time. It does a bit reminds us of Apple product rumors. It just happens that Facebook is holding a press event on January 15th to discuss its latest creation. Multiple sources are suggesting that the company will introduce a Facebook smartphone and the Messenger app for iPad.

It’s not entirely clear if this will be an actual piece of Facebook branded hardware or if they will simply use hardware from a phone maker to show off some sort of new Facebook OS for mobile. That is to say, it could very well be that the “Facebook Phone” is more about a Facebook OS running on a phone (or a few phones),

explained TechCrunch’s MG Siegler. The device will most likely be a budget smartphone with a cheap price tag for emerging markets. At this point, it is very hard to tell how successful Facebook’s upcoming phone will be. The good news is Facebook might also announce its Messenger app for iPad in a couple of days.We will have to wait till Tuesday to see whether any of the above rumors are true though.

Apple is going to have its own big product launches in 2013. But the latest report by the Wall Street Journal on the state of iPhone 5 can be a bit disheartening for Apple fans. The WSJ is suggesting that the device has received “weaker-than-expected-demand.” That might explain why Apple has had to cut its orders for iPhone 5 parts.

Let’s keep in mind that cutting part orders is not always bad news. Apple might be working on new products with more powerful parts (though it is too soon for that).  At this point, it is too early to read anything into these reports. Besides, this does not change anything for Apple. The company will need to step up and deliver big with its iPhones and iPads to maintain momentum in 2013 and beyond.