Facebook's Mobile Miscalculation

As Facebook begins life as a public company, it is confronting heightened concern about its business. One of the biggest question marks is its mobile strategy.

Facebook's recent experience with app developer CrowdStar shows just how deep its mobile problems are rooted. CrowdStar was an active developer of social games on Facebook in 2010, with 50 million daily active users playing its games like "Fishville" and "Happy Pet," said CrowdStar Chief Executive Peter Relan. But last month, CrowdStar stopped making new games for Facebook. Instead, the Burlingame (CA) company plans to focus on creating games for mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone and Google's Android-based phones. The reason: While the number of people accessing Facebook with their smartphone and tablets is exploding, apps such as games can't be accessed on the social network's mobile site. "We don't see Facebook…as attractive a platform as we see the mobile platform, so we believe all our efforts in the future will be focused on the growth available in mobile," Relan said.