Social media powerhouse Facebook (FB) is following Silicon Valley peers Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) into the healthcare arena.
A Reuters report early Friday morning cited anonymous sources who claimed FB is in the very early stages of a move into healthcare. While details about the nascent plans aren’t abundant at this point in time, the strategy will likely involve the cultivation of support communities for Facebook users with certain illnesses.
FB may also create new health-oriented “preventative care” apps — though not necessarily under the Facebook name — according to the report.
Should FB actually go through with these moves, it wouldn’t be the first time a modern day tech behemoth decided to diversify into healthcare. AAPL and GOOG have both made strong pushes into the field, with varying degrees of ambition and success.
Apple has prominently advertised how its smartphones, now replete with AAPL’s newly unveiled Health app, can be used to track one’s health and fitness. The Health app relies on data from its HealthKit software to inform substantially all of its utility, and according to a disparaging review on readwrite.com, that dynamic renders the AAPL Health app more or less a joke.
Future AAPL ventures into health seem promising, though, as the emerging wearable tech form factor offers incredible opportunities for monitoring users’ well-being.
It’s no stretch to assume that a carefully thought-out health application developed by FB stock could succeed where Apple has failed.
Facebook might have more difficulty catching up with Google, which is being stereotypically Google-y and trying to do everything.
To start with there’s the Google Fit platform, which, like Apple’s HealthKit, aims to aggregate all of a user’s health data. With the announcement of Google Fit in June, Google also announced partnerships with valuable partners like Nike (NKE), Adidas, and other outfits like the app RunKeeper.
But GOOG’s more ambitious medical project is its decision to make a “smart” contact lens that will measure glucose levels. Google is teaming with healthcare powerhouse Novartis (NVS) to develop and market the product.
So, considering the strong focus some of Facebook’s fiercest rivals have on the field, it’s not so shocking that FB is mulling giving healthcare a shot. While I wouldn’t expect FB to hastily develop groundbreaking new medical technology, I think cultivating online medical communities and resources is completely within the realm of possibility.
For now, it’s too early to know what this fresh focus will mean for FB stock, but Facebook investors should keep their finger on the pulse of the social network’s future healthcare plans, which could eventually diversify its revenue stream.
As of this writing John Divine was long AAPL stock, GOOG stock, and GOOGL stock.
