Meta is slowly recovering, but still 'at the whim of Apple' says exec
Following its precipitous stock value fall in 2022, and mass layoffs in 2023, Facebook owner Meta sees recovery on the horizon -- but is warning staff that the hits it keeps taking from Apple's privacy moves are not going away.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
So far in 2023, Meta has made 11,000 people redundant -- and more may be coming -- plus it was hit by Apple's App Tracking Transparency to the tune of $10 billion in 2022.
But according to Vox, while Meta's shares initially dropped after its latest earnings call, they then rose again to give the company its biggest one-day rise in almost a decade.
It's enough that there is progress, but Meta's Chief Marketing Officer Alex Schultz has warned staff that it is far too soon to say the firm is recovering. In an internal memo seen by Vox, he wrote that "we're still early in this turnaround, not everything will pan out."
Schultz said that, "it's nice to see people thinking we've improved," but adds that "I've been in a few groups though where I've seen folks get quite excited." He wrote the internal memo to stress that employees should not read too much into analysts' or journalists' reports.
"We're never as bad as they think we are at times like last year's stock crash," he said, "but we're probably never as good as they think at times like this."
Key among the reasons he gave for being cautious was that "we're still at the whim of Apple." He made no further comment, but the point was an acknowledgement of both the impact of Apple's privacy measures, and of Facebook and Instagram's dependence on iOS.
The memo in full, follows.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
So far in 2023, Meta has made 11,000 people redundant -- and more may be coming -- plus it was hit by Apple's App Tracking Transparency to the tune of $10 billion in 2022.
But according to Vox, while Meta's shares initially dropped after its latest earnings call, they then rose again to give the company its biggest one-day rise in almost a decade.
It's enough that there is progress, but Meta's Chief Marketing Officer Alex Schultz has warned staff that it is far too soon to say the firm is recovering. In an internal memo seen by Vox, he wrote that "we're still early in this turnaround, not everything will pan out."
Schultz said that, "it's nice to see people thinking we've improved," but adds that "I've been in a few groups though where I've seen folks get quite excited." He wrote the internal memo to stress that employees should not read too much into analysts' or journalists' reports.
"We're never as bad as they think we are at times like last year's stock crash," he said, "but we're probably never as good as they think at times like this."
Key among the reasons he gave for being cautious was that "we're still at the whim of Apple." He made no further comment, but the point was an acknowledgement of both the impact of Apple's privacy measures, and of Facebook and Instagram's dependence on iOS.
The memo in full, follows.
Read on AppleInsiderHey, team, just like when I talked in our Q&A after our stock price dropped precipitously last year there's been another big street reaction to our earnings call (and the run up to it), this time up. It's nice to see people thinking we've improved our discipline and we're not as bad they thought. I've been in a few groups though where I've seen folks get quite excited. So I want to remind you what I said last year. We're never as bad as they think we are at times like last year's stock crash but we're probably never as good as they think at times like this. We're still early in this turnaround. We still have efficiency we need to find to run this company better in the new reality, we're still at the whim of Apple, relative Monetization Efficiency has grown on reels but it is still very low, reels have grown a lot but they are still smaller than TikTok, we are seeing better numbers on young adults and teens in the US but we're not satisfied, sentiment trends are better for our brands but that doesn't mean they are good in the US and similar countries and I could go on and on. We have to keep our eyes on the horizon and not focus on the reaction of the street and our stock price. I believe in this company, I am really bullish in the long term future, all the things I felt positive about last year, I feel positive about, BUT we're still early in this turnaround, not everything will pan out, we will have a lot of highs and lows yet and we have to keep a long term focus and level head no matter what the outside noise is, positive or negative.Stay Focused and Keep Shipping
Comments
Facebook’s success is not “at the whim of Apple.” This is like a farmer saying his/her business is at the whim of the weather because the farmer cannot control the weather. Apple provides Facebook and all app makers a way to obtain permission from their users to consume their personal information and identity.
Facebook is totally at the whim of their users (aka products) choices, not Apple’s.
Apple should really update the App Store to include a new pricing tier called “Pay with Your Privacy” for apps like Facebook.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency was the first round
Apple needs to double down with even harsher restrictions and limitations.
Until Z and his cronies are selling apples on the street corner.
That would be irony for you.
I was ticked off recently finding out that my grocery store was handing over data to Meta every time I used the option, send me the bill via e-mail, which was linked to their points card.
Complaining that their business is having problems because another company won't allow them to access unsuspecting users of that companies devices means that the business is flawed in the first place and if revenue projections are hit then tough
Some users have no problem with Facebook, Twitter, or whomever is looking to probe and profit by deeply harvesting their personal data. I believe that having a choice around this specific scenario is a rational approach because I cannot envision a first-order scenario where an individual's choice has unintended side effects that propagate beyond the individual making the choice. If it could, then I'd see it much differently.
Of course, looking at second-order effects introduces potential side effects. Specifically, if part of the personal information that I expose by allowing Facebook to harvest MY personal information includes personal information about YOU, as could be the case when it comes to contact lists, likes, people you follow, and such, then MY choice could very well affect YOU in a negative way. I'd still contend that it's MY responsibility to respect YOUR privacy by not exposing anything about YOU in the data that I maintain about YOU that's potentially shared with others. We all expect that entities like Apple, Google, Facebook, etc., who maintain personal data about US to keep it private. Well, it works both ways. When it comes to personal data that WE maintain about OTHERS that could potentially leak out, we are fully responsible for respecting the trust relationship that we have taken on.
Since I don't expect Apple to protect us from owning our own responsibilities I'm okay with their current stance with respect to choice. If they did more along the lines of what you are saying I believe it would be seen as Apple promoting an agenda and ideology that Apple has that is beyond their expected sphere of influence. While I may be 100% behind what Apple is promoting I don't think their stance would be universally accepted, especially if it becomes punitive.