IPO filing says: "We do not directly generate any meaningful revenue from mobile, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven."
Facebook has filed its S-1 with the Securities Exchange Commission to set up what will be one of the most eagerly-awaited public floats ever - one that could raise $5bn.
Within that filing were some top line stats on the firm's current performance. They include the fact that Facebook made $3.71 billion in revenue in 2011, almost twice what it grossed in 2010.
Advertising accounted for 85 per cent of its revenue last year, with Zynga alone chipping in for 12 per cent of its revenues overall.
It also disclosed 845 million active registered users, of which 483 million are described as “daily active users” and 425 million are mobile users.
In filings of this type, firms are required to spell out the risks and shortcomings in their operations and in the market as a whole.
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Nevertheless, it's still pretty sobering to read in Facebook's own words of its uncertainty around monetising the mobile channel.
The firm admits that it hasn't worked out how to make advertising work on the channel, and that its activities are, to a degree, controlled by third parties.
Here's what it says: "Growth in use of Facebook through our mobile products, where we do not currently display ads, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results.
"We anticipate that the rate of growth in mobile users will continue to exceed the growth rate of our overall MAUs for the foreseeable future, in part due to our focus on developing mobile products to encourage mobile usage of Facebook.
"Although the substantial majority of our mobile users also access and engage with Facebook on personal computers where we display advertising, our users could decide to increasingly access our products primarily through mobile devices.
"We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.
"Accordingly, if users continue to increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, our revenue and financial results may be negatively affected."
Facebook also concedes that its destiny is somewhat out of its own hands and in those of OEMs and OS makers.
It adds: "We are dependent on the interoperability of Facebook with popular mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Android and iOS, and any changes in such systems that degrade our products’ functionality or give preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect Facebook usage on mobile devices."
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