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Apple chief Tim Cook hints at end to Facebook feud
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has hinted he could end the firm’s long-running feud with Facebook in order to integrate more social networking features into the iPhone and iPad.
Speaking at the D10 technology conference in California, Mr Cook said users should “stay tuned” to see the two firms working more closely.
“Facebook is a great company,” he said
“And the relationship is solid. I saw Sheryl [Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer] earlier outside. We have great respect for each other.”
In 2010 Steve Jobs publicly described failed negotiations with Facebook over the integration of Ping, Apple’s iTunes-based social network, as “onerous”. Apple was also reportedly frustrated by the way it took Facebook until October 2011 to produce an app tailored for the iPad.
The relationship hit a low with the release of iOS 5 last year, which integrated Twitter, arguably Facebook’s main rival, but ignored the world's largest social network.
But Mr Cook appeared to suggest an entente could be in the works.
“We appreciate each other,” he said.
“For us, we want to provide customers simple and elegant ways to do the things they want to do.
“Facebook has hundreds of millions of customers. So, anyone that has an iPhone or iPad, we want them to have the best experience with Facebook on those platforms. So stay tuned.”
For Facebook, integration with iOS could be an important fillip in its mobile effort. It warned before its flotation earlier this month - now described as the worst-performing IPO in a decade - that the migration of customers to mobile devices could damage its business because it currently makes no money from smartphones or tablets.
The threat is increasingly urgent as the mobile revolution gathers pace, and Mark Zuckerberg has already invested $1bn in Instagram, a photo-sharing mobile app, and is rumoured to be preparing a bid for Opera, a Norwegian firm that makes a popular mobile web browser.
Any new friendship with Apple is likely to come with some mutual suspuicion, however. The week it was also reported that Facebook has poached more than half a dozen iPhone engineers to work on its own smartphone and mobile operating system, which, if introduced, would put Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Cook in more direct competition.