Social network Facebook will reportedly launch its own smartphone after hiring former Apple hardware and software engineers to bolster its mobile position.

According to the New York Times, this is the network’s third attempt with the latest expanding on its rumoured partnership with HTC last year, known as project ‘Buffy’.

Facebook is "going deeper into the process, by expanding the group working on Buffy, and exploring other smartphone projects too, creating a team of seasoned hardware engineers who have built the devices before,” said the report. 

The paper also quoted an unnamed Facebook employee as saying: “Mark is worried that if he doesn’t create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms.”

When asked for comment, Facebook directed the NY Times to a previous statement that said: “We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.”