Smartphones can be an immensely profitable business ? just look at Apple, which nearly doubled its profit in its second quarter based on strong iPhone sales. Wanting their own piece of the action, Google and Facebook are ramping up their smartphone strategies but could face challenges replicating Apple?s success.

This week, Google began offering the Galaxy Nexus directly to consumers through its Google Play store, similar to Apple?s direct selling business via its retail and online stores. At the same time, Facebook is reportedly developing its own smartphone as a way to drive greater mobile use of its social networking services.

?They may not be trying to emulate the iPhone and that might be a problem,? said Michael Morgan, an analyst with ABI Research, New York .

?Google and Facebook want a device that is tightly integrated with their services, that is where they are making their money from,? he said. ?Apple, on the other hand, makes money off of devices and services is the hook.

?Google and Facebook are not going to make the significant profits that Apple is because Apple makes the device itself a true profit center.?

Monetizing mobile
While Apple had a phenomenal second quarter, others are find it more challenging to monetize their mobile strategies.

For example, Google?s recently reported another quarterly decline in the average cost paid per click by advertisers in part because paid search budgets are increasingly shifting from desktop to less-expensive mobile search ads.

Additionally, Facebook has clearly stated that it needs to do a better job monetizing mobile as use increasingly migrates from desktop to mobile devices.

Despite their aspirations in the smartphone space, both face considerable competition.

?Given the current smartphone landscape, and the fact that Apple is still gaining share with its iPhone, it is unlikely that Google or Facebook would be able to make a huge dent.? said Katie Lewis, analyst for mobile devices at Yankee Group, Boston.

Back for more
Two years ago, Google abandoned efforts to sell the Nexus One smartphone directly to consumers online. In its latest attempt at direct selling, Google is selling an unlocked version of the Galaxy Nexus available for $399 and will reportedly create a new ?devices? section on the Google Play store.

?Google is currently handcuffed to mobile operators who're selling Android-based devices,? Ms. Lewis said. ?By selling mobile devices, like the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, in its Google Play store, Google is attempting to become more independent of the carriers and claim a larger piece of the mobile device pie for themselves.

?Now that Google has its Google Play store, where consumers can shop for Android apps, music, books, movies and now mobile devices it can provide a very cohesive and seamless customer experience,? she said. ?This new experience will help make Google's second attempt at direct selling more successful than its first.?

The impact could be greater in markets such as Asia where most smartphones are sold through third-party retail locations as opposed to the United States, where a significant number of phones are sold through wireless carriers? retail locations.

Google will also reportedly begin selling tablets directly to consumers.

Offering a tablet direct to consumers may make more sense for Google because these devices are not as tied to the mobile network, and therefore carriers, as smartphones are.

The challenges Google faces here include the fact that most consumers still want to hold a smartphone before they make purchase.

On the move
Facebook is also looking for a bigger role in the smartphone market and is reportedly working with handset manufacturer HTC on a customized smartphone that will launch later this year. Presumably, such a phone would be tightly integrated with the Facebook platform.

?Facebook on-the-go is a huge part of the mobile experience for many consumers, who use their smartphones and tablets to access their social networking sites on the daily, if not hourly,? Ms. Lewis said. ?Despite this, Facebook is currently making little to no money on mobile devices or mobile content.

?Facebook needs a way to break into mobile devices in order to reap the benefits of the growing smartphone and tablet markets and to collect from consumers, many of whom have come to depend on Facebook for a number of wants and needs,? she said.

A Facebook smartphone would be akin to Amazon?s Kindle Fire, with the idea being to not make much if any profit of off the devices themselves but to drive more traffic to its services and be able to make money from the traffic.

Others devices have highlighted a Facebook integration but have not exactly lit the market on fire.

?Google and Facebook want to make sure that the device is going to bring in additive revenues because that is where they will make their money,? ABI Research?s Mr. Morgan said. ?They are going to have a tough time selling a device at a premium cost.

?The Kindle Fire was not trying to emulate the iPad, it was trying to create a device portal tightly integrated to Amazon?s services,? he said. ?It has been a pretty decent success but it is not an iPad.

?Devices are where you have to make your money - you haven?t proven that you can make an impact in the mobile space with just services.?