Who We Are

The Market

Location is a core element to mobile applications, high-performing mobile devices, and mobile advertising campaigns. We take our mobile devices with us wherever we go. The location of these devices, and the context in which we use them, changes constantly. In the next two years, location will become central to user experience and device performance across hundreds of millions of devices and applications.

We most commonly think of location within traditional mobile applications. Navigation apps were the first to use location. Local search results and social networking apps are always more relevant when mapped to current user location. But, location can do more than simply drive people to physical locations where they can shop, eat, navigate or meet friends.

We believe that soon, all mobile applications will be tied to location. Applications that we currently do not think of as location-relevant, like books, sports, reference, music and cooking all become more interesting when user location is taken into account. Home cooks will be able to check out the most popular recipes in their neighborhoods. Music lovers will see where their favorite artists are being played around the country. Sports fans will be able to interact with other spectators in the same stadium.

Massive growth in these mobile applications will change the way consumers purchase and interact with mobile devices. Over 3 billion mobile applications were downloaded in 2009. The Yankee Group projects that this market will explode to 7 billion applications in 2013 alone. These applications will make already-powerful smartphones and netbooks more functional and customized to an individual's interests and style.

Alongside the growth in mobile apps over the next five years, mobile devices and data will get more accessible. Handset prices will fall and hot devices like the iPhone, Palm Pre and netbooks will capture consumer attention. 3G networks will get more powerful. The demand for mobile data and connectivity will increase, and operator subscription fees will get more affordable worldwide.

These changes are beginning to signal a shift in the market away from feature phones (voice and SMS-only) to smartphones. An estimated 63 million mobile phone users upgraded to smartphones from feature phones in 2008, from approximately 15 million upgrades in 2005. Looking forward, RBC Capital Markets projects that 150 million smartphones will ship in 2009. We will see massive growth of the market over the next four years, with 503 million smartphones projected to ship in 2013. The netbook market will also expand; Gartner projects that 50 million netbooks will ship in 2012 alone.

Precise, reliable and accurate location will make mobile devices and applications better. With quality location, devices will perform better, applications will become more useful and more engaging, and advertising will become more valuable to publishers and relevant to consumers.

Ads
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007288

Apps
http://www.yankeegroup.com/pressReleaseDetail.do?actionType=getDetailPressRelease&ID=2468
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/092809-apple-application-downloads.html?fsrc=netflash-rss
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218500770
http://www.atelier-us.com/e-business-and-it/article/juniper-mobile-application-market-worth-25b-in-2014

Smartphones
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/China-iPhone-Energizes-Global-Smartphone-Sales-Says-Report-395075/

Netbooks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/feb/18/netbooks-market-apple
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/217917/netbook-sales-to-top-50-million-by-2012