According to Nielsen Mobile´s fourth-quarter Mobile Application
Report on usage and revenue from wireless applications, Networks In
Motion (NIM) led the location-based services (LBS) industry in the
U.S. with 57 percent share of revenue(a) from the top four U.S.
carriers, up from 53 percent in Q3.
In addition, Networks In Motion, which offers downloadable mobile
phone navigation and local search applications on all major wireless
carriers, obtained 33 percent share of carrier revenue from all mobile
data applications--nearly double the next closest application--leading
all mobile application publishers, which include MySpace Mobile, XM
Satellite Radio and other GPS navigation software providers, such as
TeleNav, MapQuest Mobile and Garmin Mobile.
The revenue-generating downloadable mobile applications that
Nielsen tracks include location-based services such as navigation,
family locators and social networking, as well as weather and sports
applications, music, news, radio, wallpaper, and personal organization
tools. In Nielsen Mobile´s Q4 report, location-based services account
for 58 percent of the total application revenues, with navigation
applications leading other location-based services such as
friend-finding.
"As recent news about a leading GPS device company entering the
mobile phone market indicates, mobile phone navigation is becoming
increasingly popular among consumers and is catching up to sales of
personal navigation devices," said Doug Antone, president and CEO of
Networks In Motion. "Consumers are using their mobile phones for more
than just talking and, as this study indicates, the most popular
application they´re choosing is NIM´s mobile phone navigation and
local search application that allows them to get where they need to go
and find points of interest in their vicinity."
"Navigation continues to be a very important part of the LBS and
mobile application marketplace," said David Gill, director of mobile
media, Nielsen Mobile. "From both a revenue standpoint and in terms of
unique users, these applications continue to perform well in the
market, confirming the value millions of mobile users see in such
location-based services."
Networks In Motion´s LBS platform delivers turn-by-turn,
voice-prompted directions with auto-rerouting if a turn is missed, as
well as local search of nearly 14 million points of interest and
detailed color maps that can be quickly panned and zoomed. Varying by
wireless carrier, the subscription typically costs $9.99 per month or
$2.99 per day. Many of North America´s wireless carriers´ navigation
and local search applications are powered by Networks In Motion´s
NAVBuilder(TM) platform, which has surpassed two million paying
subscribers.
About Networks In Motion
Networks In Motion is an award-winning wireless navigation and
local search company, with products on most major wireless carriers.
Networks In Motion powers: AAA Mobile(R) on Verizon Wireless, Alltel,
and Sprint; Verizon Wireless´ VZ Navigator; YellowPages.com Mobile,
which is currently deployed on AT&T Alltel´s Axcess Mobile Guide
navigator; U.S. Cellular´s Your Navigator; TELUS Navigator and TELUS
Kid Find, making NIM´s NAVBuilder platform the most widely used mobile
phone navigation service in North America. Founded in 2000, the
company is privately held and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif.,
with international offices in Sweden and Spain. More information is
available at http://www.networksinmotion.com.
(a) Post-paid, non-corporate liable lines; Nielsen Mobile is a
division of The Nielsen Company.