Google and HERE Well Placed to Benefit
Boston, MA - April 29, 2014 – Falling barriers to the adoption of
location-based services (LBS) in emerging markets, combined with
momentum behind indoor LBS and mobile advertising, are set to fuel
future growth in mobile LBS according to Strategy Analytics’
Wireless Media Strategies (WMS) report “Emerging Markets, Indoor
Location & Mobile Advertising to Drive Future Mobile LBS Market
Growth.”
Click here for the report:
https://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=9572
Falling price points for GPS enabled handsets coupled with rising mobile
data adoption will boost LBS adoption and use. Furthermore, increasing
activity around indoor maps and accurate indoor positioning technology
via low-energy Bluetooth beacon technology
and WiFi will enable the rise of indoor LBS, including proximity
marketing on mobile devices.
The adoption of mobile location based services such
as maps and in-car navigation has been widespread in countries with
both high smartphone and data plan adoption, and will spread to
countries like India and China, where smartphone ownership
and data plan adoption is rising fast. Nitesh Patel, Director of Wireless Media Strategies
at Strategy Analytics, noted “In addition to the continued adoption of
mobile LBS in rising mobile data markets, venue owners and brands are
increasingly testing
the capabilities of mobile devices to deliver enhanced customer
experiences and engagement. We see the increasing activity around indoor
location and mobile marketing by brands, retailers, and owners of
complex venues as a clear signal that indoor LBS and
location-enhanced marketing will drive the next wave of growth in the
mobile LBS sector.”
The report also assesses
the strengths and weaknesses of key LBS players, Apple, Google, HERE,
and TomTom, across a variety of important metrics, including map and
navigation coverage, indoor venue capabilities,
OS reach, in-vehicle connectivity, offline usage, local search and
crowd sourcing.
David MacQueen, Director of Media and Apps
at Strategy Analytics, says “HERE is the overall leader in terms of its
mapping and location capabilities, followed by Google, TomTom and then
Apple. HERE’s opportunity
for growth have improved significantly with its horizontal strategy,
following the sale of Nokia’s devices and service unit to Microsoft.
However, Google is the leader in business –to-consumer (B2C) LBS
applications, as it benefits from preloading on most
Android handsets, and is the most widely used map, navigation and local
search app. Apple remains in catch-up mode, although its high
smartphone market share and acquisitions to enhance its LBS
capabilities, such as Locationary, WiFiSlam, Embark and BroadMap,
keep it a major player.”