Facebook tells staff to dump their iPhones

In an unusual move, Facebook Inc has virtually ordered its employees to dump their iPhones and switch to Android devices.

"I am mandating a switch of a whole bunch of my team over to Android, just because people, when left up to their own devices, will often prefer an iPhone," chief product officer Chris Cox, told the media on Friday.

This does not imply that Facebook has developed a sudden antipathy to Apple or bonhomie with Google. This is a practical decision, according to Cox, as a large chunk of Facebook's expanding user base in emerging markets accesses the social network on Android devices, and not iPhones.

As Facebook seeks to reach more people around the world, Cox said he wanted his team to switch to the world's most popular mobile platform "so that they can be reporting bugs and living in the same experience that most Facebook users experience today".

The directive shows just how much attention Facebook is paying to the emerging markets.

Facebook's focus is the people who are just coming online, or have yet to come online. And Cox is ensuring his men understand the clients' needs first hand.

Facebook now has almost one billion active users around the world and rapidly growing. As of June 2015, 844 million of the website's visitors were accessing their profiles from the social media's mobile app

Facebook has laid out its plans in preparation for the next wave of internet users, which will be from the emerging markets.

One of the changes announced this weekend was the "Slideshow Ad" that will replace video ads in regions where internet connection is slow and unsteady.

This ought to help not only larger brands like Coca-Cola to reach an even larger market, but to also introduce local businesses to more consumers.