After
years of hype, mobile Location Based Services (LBS) are finally gaining traction
among wireless subscribers. This growth is driven on the supply side by WCDMA
and GSM handsets increasingly joining the many CDMA-based devices that
incorporate GPS capabilities; and on the demand side by surging consumer
interest in personal navigation functionality. According to a new report from
ABI Research, LBS revenue is forecast to reach an annual global total of $13.3
billion by 2013, up from an estimated $515 million during
2007.
Personal
navigation, although expected to remain the most popular consumer application
over the next several years, won't be alone: friend-finder, local information
searches, family tracker applications, and enterprise applications (including
workforce tracking and fleet management), will all find niches under the LBS
umbrella. Friend-finding is anticipated to be the next service launched for mass
consumption.
ABI
Research industry analyst Jamie Moss says, "Personal navigation and enterprise
services are projected to be the highest revenue-generating services of the five
LBS categories profiled, and are forecast to be worth about $4.3 billion and
$6.5 billion respectively, per annum, by 2013."
"The
interesting thing about the LBS content-producing sector is that much of the
information is already available," Moss continues. "It's a win-win situation for
content providers: they already have established markets for their map and POI
data (automotive and telematics), and LBS is yet another that could potentially
provide them with considerable additional licensing
revenue."