Facebook is ready to open its office in Dubai next week. This
announcement came just days after launching one of the biggest and most
turbulent share listings in Wall Street history.
Its office will be located Dubai Internet
City, with a focus on winning advertising revenue from the region, daily
newspaper The National revealed.
Like rest of the world, Facebook is the most popular
social-networking site in the UAE, with 54 per cent of the population using the
site, according to the Arab Media Outlook and Arab Advisors Group.
The company which was listed on Friday on the Nasdaq in
New York, raising US$16 billion (Dh58.77bn).
But its shares experienced a turbulent ride since the offering, falling
yesterday for a third day in a row yesterday. In early Tuesday trading on the
Nasdaq in New York, the shares hovered at about $33.01, 3 per cent down from
Monday's closing price.
Doubt has been cast over Facebook's business
model. GM's pullout its $10m Facebook advertising budget, raised concerns over
Facebook's valuation and long-term prospects. It did, however, say it would
continue to use the site's free functions.
While some advertisers in the Middle East, including
Emirates Airline, opted not to discontinue advertising on the website. Analysts
have, however, noted that digital advertising revenue is relatively low in the
region.
In the first three months of this year, Facebook's
earnings fell to $205m from $233m in the same period last year. The company's
revenue increased to more than $1bn in the first three months of the year.
Facebook was launched by its chief executive, Mark
Zuckerberg, and several colleagues, at Harvard in 2004 and now has more than
900 million users around the world. The site reported net income of $1bn last
year.
No comments:
Post a Comment