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Location-Based Services
Market To Reach $447 Million By 2009
July 7, 2007
Location-based services (LBS) which have largely
remained untapped in Asia Pacific are expected to show promising growth in tandem with the introduction of mash-up services
and increase in mobile advertising. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific Location-based Services Market, reveals
that the market - covering 13 major Asia-Pacific economies - was worth $291.7 million in 2006 and is expected to grow at a
CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 15.3 percent (2006-2009) to reach an estimated $447 million by end-2009.
“LBS
is emerging as the benchmark for service differentiation amongst mobile operators. Despite being a fairly small segment, this
niche market is gradually shifting from a mere complementary service into a significant source of revenues,” observes
Janice Chong, industry manager, Frost & Sullivan.
LBS, which encompass a complex eco-system of application
developers, content providers, merchants and advertisers, demonstrate the progressive demand of mobile users for more control
over content and services that operators provide. “The implementation of a full-spectrum LBS which includes mash-up
services can significantly expedite the creation of a robust mobile content eco-system in the various Asia-Pacific countries,”
added Chong.
Japan and South Korea are by far the most developed LBS markets accounting for nearly 92 per cent
of the total revenues in Asia Pacific. Much of this is attributed to the advanced data market in both these countries, the
existence of a complete mobile eco-system which is conducive for both application developers and content providers, and the
availability of reasonable LBS plans with flat rates.
“These markets also exhibit a much higher consumer-to-enterprise
LBS ratio. The consumer segment provides a more durable payoff since there is a tight nexus to mobile advertising, allowing
more potential for growth,” noted Chong.
The demand for LBS in the rest of Asia Pacific however has been
primarily inhibited by various issues including privacy infringement concerns, inter-operability issues, lack of advanced
GPS-enabled handsets, and to a large extent, a general lack of a conducive eco-system and user interest. In most of these
markets, mobile operators’ foremost priority is limited to expanding subscriber base and driving greater data traffic
amongst mobile users.
“However, with wider availability of GPS-enabled handsets, value-added mash-up services
and intense advertising, the adoption of LBS throughout the rest of Asia Pacific is expected to increase,” concluded
Chong.
Source: EFYtimes.com
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