In-Stat: Sluggish Asia Wireless Location Services Market on Verge of Taking Off

In-Stat has issued a new report that predicts "location-based services (LBS) may finally realize its potential in the Asia/Pacific region in the upcoming five years."

Bryan Wang at In-Stat said, “Slower-than-expected implementation of more accurate location determination technologies (LDTs), consumer privacy concerns, and operators focused on the deployment of other proven mobile data services have hampered LBS in the region. One factor that is not lacking, however, is consumer interest in LBS.”

Key findings include:

• In 2004, Asia registered LBS revenue of US$353.0 million, and the market is expected to reach US$771.9 million by 2010.
• A recent In-Stat survey found that 88.5% out of 916 Japanese wireless users, and 99.5% out of 940 South Korea wireless users, are interested in one or more LBS application.
• Japan and South Korea are the most advanced regional markets, with almost all categories of LBS applications available now.