Location-based mobile services have been around for donkey’s years, without ever threatening to actually become popular. But that’s changing, mainly because the technology is improving, more capable handsets are out there, and companies are focusing on making LBS services you’d actually want to use.
Analyst Berg Insight thinks this is leading to something of a bonanza. In fact, it predicts that more than 100 million Europeans will use location based services by 2012, with the most popular being mapping, navigation and search, although social networking and tracking will also grow between now and then. Analyst André Malm explains:
“All the pieces needed for successful LBS are more or less in place now. GPS is about to become a standard feature in mass-market handsets which are highly advanced and support third party applications. Many will try and a few players will most likely succeed in creating location-enabled mobile applications that will have the same impact on the mobile industry as MySpace and Facebook had on the Internet.”
However, he’s less bullish about whether all this LBS activity will translate into actual revenues for the companies providing it, suggesting that advertising will play a big role, but it’s still early days in the mobile advertising market.
(via Slashphone)
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