Twitter’s current mobile apps were acquired from Atebits during 2010: Twitter Acquires Tweetie
Now Twitter is on the outlook for TweetDeck: Twitter Offering $50 Million To Buy TweetDeck
This seems a bit strange, but if you consider the following it might make more sense:
- The users choose, face and are loyal to the apps, not Twitter per se.
- Twitter is plumbing and taken for granted.
- Twitter as a brand is already quite diluted through all the services and apps that are called “tweet”, “twit” etc. Twitter has allowed this to happen.
- The apps provide the aggregate functionality users want, and that goes beyond simple text messaging.
- Twitter is in serious need of getting more revenue, and apps are good spaces for showing ads.
- All innovation is happening in the periphery. Twitter has in my opinion not innovated at all the last 2-3 years, if ever.