Communications and Technology Industry Research

The global off-deck LBS application downloads will reach almost two billion by 2014, according to a new study from ABI Research. This growth is being attributed to the momentum created by the popularity of affordable off-deck LBS applications and a more open environment. The increased competition in the location industry that has long been dominated by carriers offering expensive subscription-based on-deck services is also a major contributing factor towards the growth in off-deck LBS application downloads.

 

ABI Research’s (News - Alert) new “Off-Deck LBS” study examines the drivers behind this fast-growing segment. The report includes descriptions of off-deck LBS pricing, business models, and value chains technologies, players, and activation and revenue forecasts per region, LBS application category and smartphone platform. The report is a must-have for LBS application developers, handset vendors, location content providers, carriers and alternative positioning providers. This report is part of ABI Research’s Location Based Services Research Service.

 

According to Dominique Bonte, practice director at ABI Research, the main drivers of the off-deck LBS revolution are the rise in popularity of touch-screen GPS-enabled smartphones, combined with a range of application stores launched by handset and mobile operating system vendors.

 

Even though Apple (News - Alert) set the stage with the iPhone/iTunes platform, it is now being copied by Google (Android), RIM, Nokia (Symbian (News - Alert)), and Microsoft (Windows Mobile). This in turn allows smaller LBS developers to compete with traditional off-deck LBS players like Telenav, Networks in Motion and Loopt (News - Alert). Bonte added that the competition with traditional off-deck LBS players has resulted from a lower cost structure based on crowd-sourced location content, advertising-funded business models, alternative positioning technologies and viral marketing techniques. ABI Research officials expect that the global off-deck LBS application downloads will exceed 260 million in 2010.

 

However, the nascent off-deck LBS environment is threatened due to fragmentation both within and between platforms, and by increasing uncertainty surrounding viable business models, with the ubiquitous “freemium” and ad-funded approaches illustrating end users’ limited willingness to pay. Google’s recent offering of free turn-by-turn navigation on Android (News - Alert) phones has further put a shadow on the prospects for monetizing off-deck LBS.