Carrier dominance in the North American consumer LBS sector,
which was carefully developed during the past decade, is now being
directly assaulted by smartphone application storefronts and free
off-deck solutions
New analysis from Frost
& Sullivan
2010 North American Consumer Location-based Services (LBS) Market –
The Wireless Carrier Opportunity, finds that the wireless
carrier-generated segment of the North American consumer LBS market
amounted to on-deck application software revenues of approximately $718 million in 2009 and forecasts this to
reach $1.58 billion in 2015.
Wireless carriers must
become more creative and aggressive in leveraging their unique assets if
they want to successfully carve out and keep a significant portion of
this sector’s potential revenue. Powerful technology and greater
customer awareness are driving the consumer LBS market and providing
even more opportunities for carriers to partner with top-tier
application developers and create, launch, and promote new LBS
solutions.
“In tandem with
smartphone advances, carriers are making their networks and locationing
capability more accessible to LBS application developers,” says Frost
& Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Jeanine
Sterling. “Partnerships with location aggregators, open
application programming interface (API) platforms, and simpler, quicker
certification reviews make it easier for LBS developers to stake a claim
to the market.”
However, new
monetization models and higher channel fragmentation encourage
smartphone users, in particular, to bypass wireless carriers and
download LBS solutions directly from the phone’s application store. The
majority of location-based applications available through smartphone
storefronts are free or available for a one-time fee. In such an
environment, carriers will have to strategize cleverly to justify their
monthly subscription model. They will also have to find ways to appeal
to a smartphone user population that is quickly growing in terms of size
and demands.
Wireless carriers have
to bring a strong marketing sensibility to the consumer LBS sector.
Their gatekeeper role and control over products and partners have
disappeared in the smartphone sector and has been weakened with feature
phone users. Carriers need to decide where they can compete successfully
in this sector.
“Some LBS solutions –
such as the kid finder services – are just an automatic and perfect fit.
Other applications and capabilities may not be as obvious. To thrive
in this market, carriers have to be real marketers – monitoring customer
needs, identifying product voids, working with creative partners, and
publicizing the distinct benefits that carriers bring to today’s mobile
user,” advises Sterling.
2010 North American
Consumer Location-based Services (LBS) Market – The Wireless Carrier
Opportunity is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth
Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the
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American Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook, U.S. On-Deck Premium
Mobile Content Markets, and An Insight into the U.S. Mobile Video
Content Services Market. All research services included in subscriptions
provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have
been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.