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According to ABI Reseach, the emergence of location-based mobile social networking services such as GyPSii, Pelago and Loopt is revolutionizing social networking and is set to generate $3.3 billion by 2013. However, at the moment it’s not the advertising that generates the revenue for the service providers. Rather it’s licensing and revenue-sharing deals that location-based mobile social networking providers are pushing to reach profitability. In that sense, we’ve recently saw GyPSii announcing deals with Garmin and Samsung, while Loopt has established partnerships with all major U.S. carriers.
On the down side, there are several factors that are hindering mass market adoption of location-based mobile social networking. Privacy concerns are still a major issue, and so is the cost of data plans. At the same time, many small players are struggling to create sufficient brand awareness in a fragmented market, while some major companies like Nokia are also looking for their way to the market.
ABI Research’s recent study “Location-based Mobile Social Networking” offers insight into trends, social networking features, drivers, barriers and includes detailed descriptions of solutions and market players, with special focus on business models. You can read more about it from here.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
