Facebook's Biggest Threat to Apple, Samsung and Twitter is…

More than 50% of smartphone users do something every hour that could impact the future of tech manufacturers and social media sites everywhere. They communicate with Facebook FB. That's according to Sandvine's chief executive, Dave Caputo. "We are finding that 50-percent of smart phones are actually connecting to Facebook every hour of every day, which perhaps is not surprising when you see Facebook icons on the home pages of most websites," said Caputo, as quoted on the company's site. This poses quite a problem for the likes of Apple AAPL, Google GOOG, Samsung, HTC, and other smartphone manufacturers, as well as social media sites like Twitter. You see, Facebook is rumored to be cloning the iPhone 5. The company, which made its wealth building a website, not hardware, assumes that it can enhance its marketing efforts and increase its profits with a smartphone of its own, and become a dominant player by leveraging the Facebook brand. Critics assume that Facebook is crazy for thinking it has a chance of penetrating the 100-foot wall Apple and Samsung have built around the smartphone industry, which they now command. But if consumers are using their iPhones and Galaxy S IIIs to access Facebook every hour, why wouldn't they at least be open to the idea of a Facebook phone? They would, and that's why critics are so quick to shoot down the idea of a Facebook phone -- because Facebook's dominance in smartphone use is very scary. If partnered with the right manufacturer, a Facebook phone could pose quite a threat to the leading smartphone makers. Granted, it could be one of those makers (not Apple but possibly Samsung) that helps Facebook soar to victory. There is also the strong possibility that Facebook's efforts have little to do with smartphone manufacturing, but are instead focused on building a smartphone operating system. Who better than Facebook to challenge Android and iOS? "They have 2,500 amazing technologists, and they get the pick of the litter," Tom Sosnoff, the co-founder of thinkorswim and the CEO of tastytrade, Inc., told Benzinga during a recent interview. "And when you think about a company that can support 700 or 800 million users without a technology glitch, their ability to create technology is off the charts." Indeed, Facebook is a very powerful company. If it chooses to use that power against other smartphone manufacturers, we might be in for some massive changes over the next few years. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ