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By Brad Smith
WirelessWeek - October 11, 2007
Location-based services (LBS) are among the most expensive applications mobile phone users can buy, but that's not stopping them from downloading to their handsets, according to a report by Telephia.
The research company says the average monthly price of an LBS is $9.23, compared to a range of $3.82 to $5.41 for other applications like weather, sports and wallpapers. Downloadable mobile applications generated $118 million in revenue in the second quarter, with LBS making up 51% of that revenue.
Navigation is the No. 1 interest in mobile LBS, Telephia says. The research also shows carriers are contributing to LBS's success with favorable deck placement on the phone and bundling navigation services with data packages.
Telephia says Networks in Motion, which provides Verizon Wireless's VZ Navigator service, is the top navigation publisher with 27% of carrier revenue. TeleNav Mobile is second with 15% of the revenue.
There's still a lot of room for expansion in downloads generally, Telephia notes. Just 5% of mobile subscribers have downloaded an application, while 7% to 10% have downloaded content like games and ringtones.
"There are hurdles that LBS publishers face, most notably the relatively low incidence of application downloads when compared to other mobile data activity. Many consumers may not realize the utility of a navigation application on their mobile phones until they use it," according to David Gill, director of Mobile Media, Telephia. "However, Nokia's bid to buy Navteq for $8.1 billion is a very positive sign for the market and validates the strength and potential of LBS." |
