Tech Power Play As Zukerberg-Musk Lock Horns

The launch of a new technology app, Threads a rival app by tech billionaire Mark Zukerberg has sparked power play in the tech industry.

Threads, a rival or alternative app to twitter owned by another tech billionaire, Elon Reeve Musk has already witnessed some 30 million sign-ups in less than 24-hours.

Technology watchers say the quick rise in the number of Threads sign-ups in just few hours pose serious threat to to the survival of twitter in the world of social media even though, there is a long way to go.

This development has heightened the technology rivalry and tension between the two billionaires who have been widely reported to have been joking about setting up a cage fight match.

But analysts think the sudden rise in the Threads sign-up is a sign that Mr Zuckerberg’s Meta has a good shot at wooing some of its gigantic 3 billion-plus users on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to the new offering – and bringing advertisers with them.

After all, Mr Zuckerberg, whose Meta made more than $117bn in sales last year, has a monster track record when it comes to selling adverts – and none of the apparent qualms of Mr Musk, who has disdained advertising at his electric car company, Tesla, and been looking for alternative ways to fund Twitter.

Mr Zuckerberg said there would be no ads on Threads initially, giving the company time to fine-tune the app, which allows users to scroll endlessly through text-based posts.

“Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point,” he wrote.

But eventually, Threads adverts could add 1% to 5% to Meta’s overall revenue, generating more than $6bn in the most optimistic scenario, Justin Patterson, equity research analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets wrote in a note.

That’s not huge. But it’s also not nothing, especially as the company continues to look for ways to combat the hit to ad sales sparked by stricter privacy rules from Apple.

And it is well within striking distance of Twitter, which generated $4.5bn in ad revenue in 2021, before Mr Musk’s takeover sparked upheaval.

Exerpts from BBC