The Latest on the Facebook Phone - Technology Review

"Facebook phone" is not looking likely; also see Monday Note Exclusive: The Walmart Garden Smartphone, in which Jean-Louis Gassée reaches a similar conclusion

"Mark Zuckerberg is a bright man, and the Bilton report describes him peppering interviewees with tough questions about hardware, down to the inner workings of chips. It’s probably good for Zuckerberg to think of his business flexibly, and to indulge, to an extent, in this vision of a Facebook beyond software. But at the end of the day, all he needs is to listen to the advice of one analyst GigaOm spoke to, who said: “Mobile phone production is a business Facebook has zero experience in. It’s also a business with considerable cost and risk attached [and] no amount of homework done by Mark Zuckerberg is likely to help bridge the operational knowledge and gap needed to compete against the market leaders.” The truly smart CEO knows where his company’s strengths lie. For Facebook, that’s not hardware."

The Latest on the Facebook Phone - Technology Review