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Meta has spent 15 years shunning the iPad. Now, it seems theyre finally ready to embrace the tablet lovers. WhatsApp users can finally text from the big screen. On Tuesday, Meta announced that the popular messaging app is finally available on iPadOS devices, including expanded features for multitasking. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Meta is finally building Instagram for the iPad as well. Its a curious time to embrace tablets. While still a high-volume sales item, the iPad is losing its popularity. The device has endured a yearslong backslide in growth, comprising only 6.8% of Apple’s revenue in 2024 compared to the boom of more than 15% in the early 2010s. Still, an iPad expansion opens Meta apps up to a broader swath of consumers. Metas iPad expansion WhatsApp has been mobile-first since its 2009 launch. Meta purchased the app $19 billion in 2014, mostly leaving it alone to rake in revenue from its then 600 million active users. That number now sits closer to 3 billion, a rival to Facebook and beating out Instagram (Meta doesnt split their revenue reports by app, but experts estimate that WhatsApp now generates nearly $20 billion annually). Recently, though, Meta has been taking a more active role in WhatsApps development. They added messaging functions like emoji reactions, built access via Mac and Windows computers, and broke down privacy barriers by tying WhatsApp to other Meta properties. Though there has been an an iPhone app since 2009, iPad users needed to access WhatsApp via their browser, where users were unable to make calls. Now, Meta has finally launched a standalone iPad app. The app is mostly the same as its iOS alternative, though it integrates common iPad tools like the Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard. Since iPads allow split screens, users can now message and call while scrolling other apps, while mobile users still need to toggle between them. (Meta did not respond to a request for comment.) Instagram is Metas other major iPad holdout. To access Instagram on a tablet, users must expand the iPhone app, which can reduce image quality. In 2022, Instagram head Adam Mosseri tweeted that that the Instagram for iPad supporters were still just not a big enough group of people to be a priority, but that they would get to it at some point. Now seems to be the time: According to The Information, Meta is building an iPad version of Instagram to compete with TikTok amid the Chinese apps regulatory challenges. Metas device strategy shift is more apparent in their smaller apps. In July 2023, it launched their X competitor, Threads, for mobile only. Two years later, the app still doesnt have an iPad counterpart. Compare that to the new Meta AI app which launched last month. This app debuted for both iPhone and iPad, a rarity for Meta. Why is Meta interested in iPads now? When the iPad hit its peak in the mid-2010s, Meta still refused to tailor many of their social apps for the bigger screen. Now, growth is depressed, innovation has slowed, and iPad mania has cooled. Why is Meta now interested in an iPad play after all these years? The choice could be reflective of consumer sentiments. As social apps speed towards entertainment platforms (and away from social connectors), many users are looking for bigger screens. YouTube is now more popular on TVs than it is on phones. Meanwhile, the streaming services that are most popular on iPads are fashioning themselves after social apps. This convergence of content could make being on alternate screen sizes more important for the consumer. The move towards iPads could also be a legacy play. While tablet popularity is waning among the general population, it remains dominant among young children. The Generation Alpha sub-demographic of ages 7-9 are affectionately titled iPad kids, with almost 80% raised with easy access to an iPad. This young demographic is also already on social media, and even on the smaller platforms. Feeding their apps to iPad kids could ensure longevity, or help Meta reach an underserved consumer base. Meta apps are significantly less popular among Generation Alpha, after all, with the young users opting for YouTube, TikTok, and even Snapchat. Or, Meta could just be embracing a bigger group of consumers. Tablet lovers have waited 15 years, after all. Meta is finally embracing them.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to negotiate aspects of the “big, beautiful” tax bill, expressing dissatisfaction with certain provisions while being satisfied with others. His comments followed billionaire Elon Musk’s criticism a day earlier, in which Musk argued that the bill detracts from efforts to reduce the U.S. budget deficit. “We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” Trump told reporters, without directly addressing Musk’s concerns. He also emphasized the need to secure sufficient support for the bill’s passage in the Senate, stating, “we can’t be cutting, you know, we need to get a lot of support.” In an interview with CBS “Sunday Morning,” broadcast late on Tuesday, Musk said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill” because it increases the budget deficit and undermines the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk said in the interview. The White House intends to send Congress a small package as early as next week to formalize cuts made by Musk’s team targeting federal government spending, a White House official familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. For months, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have been asking the administration to codify the federal spending cuts announced by DOGE. Musk, the world’s richest man, was appointed by Trump in February to lead his administration’s chaotic reform of the federal government as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the sweeping tax and spending bill that would enact much of Trump’s policy agenda and saddle the country with trillions of dollars more in debt. Trump and his fellow Republicans, which passed the measure by a single vote, have dubbed the legislation the “big, beautiful bill.” It will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The U.S. Senate is now considering the measure. A DOGE website that claims it has saved U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars has been riddled with errors and corrections. Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu, Reuters
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E-Commerce
David Droga is stepping down as CEO of Accenture Song, the global consultancys creative marketing services unit. In September Droga will transition from his day-to-day leadership into a broader strategic role as vice chair of Accenture. Within only four years, Droga led Songs growth from $12.5 billion to $19 billion in revenue, all while winning Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity every year, I-COM Data Creativity Awards, Red Dot Design Awards, Webbys, and its first Emmy. Droga came to Accenture back in 2019, after Accenture Interactive acquired his ad agency Droga5. At the time, Droga explained that brand communications had gone far beyond just advertising, seeping into every time and place a consumer experiences a brandfrom ads to retail to e-commerce. He knew the combination of Accentures scale and digital expertise and Droga5s strategy and creativity would be in high demand. CEOs, CMOs, and CIOs all need to be on the same page, because they all affect each other now, he said at the time. This isnt a nice-to-have. I think its going to be crucial for any brand going forward. This is future-proofing. Six years later, many brands are now just coming to terms with this. When Accenture Interactive was rebranded as Song, Droga (who was named CEO in 2021) saw it as another future-proofing move, to make sure the companys structure matched client demands. Were now more in line with each other, working on solutions together, same P&L, so theres no competing forces getting in the way, he said. I think thats the only way to step up and deliver what clients need. Given how Song has built up its capabilitiesmaking 62 acquisitions since fiscal 2010it’s clear Droga has built an absolute powerhouse across creativity, design, technology, AI, data, and strategy into one connected platform. I talked to him about how AI was transforming the advertising industry on Fast Companys Brand New World podcast back in February. As part of the transition, Ndidi Oteh, who currently serves as the Americas lead for Accenture Song, will become the CEO of Accenture Song, the company said. Nick Law, current creative chairperson for Accenture Song, will become the creative strategy and experience lead. I spoke with Droga on Wednesday about his not-really retirement, how the company has evolved most under his leadership, and what his next chapter looks like. Fast Company: OK, lets start with the most obvious question: Why this move and why now? David Droga: Well, because I felt like we had our we had great momentum, and I had the right leadership team. That sort of gave me the belief that if I was going to, step into something new, or retireor notthat I wasn’t abandoning ship. We’re ready for the next phase. Assembling the team was probably the most important part. One consistent thing through my career is I’ve always been in a rush to prove things out, not just sort of sit around and wait for things to happen. You’ve got to seize opportunity, and try and live up to it. You never really finish doing what you set out to do, but you can certainly hit benchmarks along the way. Then eventually, you feel like it’s got its own momentum. And then you can throw yourself into trying different things, as well. But I certainly proved what I wanted to prove to myself and to the broader audience that creative leadership can really move an industry, a company, forward. And it’s more of a necessity of leadership now than an accoutrement. Back in 2022 when Accenture Interactive was rebranded Song, we talked a lot about spreading creativity to more areas of business problem solving. How has the company evolved most significantly since then? Across broad Accenture, I know they see our creativity and abilities as an advantage. The scale of broad Accenture is vast. It is seen as very much a tech-led company with consulting and operations at the heart of it, and now that they see the power of infusing creativity into that, we can do even more. For me, the real validation and excitement is when we can do things that only Song can do, which is infusing that creativity across every facet of the customers business. Yes, there’s marketing, but we can now take that consistency to the commerce platforms, and then we can also do that with the service, and we can do that in design, and with data and AI. I see we’re actually proving that out, not just from how much we’re growing, but putting our best intentions and experience into it, and I’m seeing that woven into what we’re doing for clients. We’re not pigeonholed into one dimension of our clients’ needs. What particular pieces of work or projects stand out as highlights that embody those capabilities? Well, you can go from the Coinbase (2022 Super Bowl ad) and the Sydney Opera House work as more traditional advertising. Then theres amazing digital work, which is, like, you know, the Gatorade digital redesign, or the IKEA work where people can resell their old stuff back on the IKEA platform. It’s not just the creative idea. I always say if you look at our very best ideas, is that a marketing idea? Is it a commerce idea? Is it a design idea? Is it a sustainability idea? No, it’s about the ability to make them all come together. I’ve always been trying to prove out not just the worth of creativity, but the different canvases and dimensions where it can show up. I’m a creative person to the marrow, and the best way to prove the worth and value of creativity is by making a sustainable business where we’re growing, where our client work is working, where people have opportunities, and people are excited by what we represent. But it’s also difficult. Forging a new path is intimidating, and sometimes you stumble and fail. Ive said this before, but I’m more afraid of repetition than I am a failure. OK, speaking of forging new paths, this sounds like a sort-of, not-really retirement. Whats next for you? What does a vice chair do? Im still participating. I’m a builder and a worker, and I like to do things. So I’m going to step out of leading this enterprise and being caught up in the day to day operation, and now I can sort of cherry pick and spend time with the things that I think are going to move us forward. I think, had I just retired, its probably too abrupt for someone (like me) who’s probably like a sharkyou die if you stop moving. I don’t have aspirations to play golf and sit on a beach for rest of my life, but I also did want to just take stock. My oldest daughter just started college, for example. So I wanted to be able to ground myself and think about how I can contribute in these other ways. And it’s probably saving me from just playing tennis and pouring tequila over my head.
Category:
E-Commerce
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