Indian consumer survey reveals interest in location-based
services
- Demand for traffic information to help drivers avoid
congestion also highlighted
Singapore and Reading (UK) - Thursday, 8 May 2008
For immediate release
Highlights from the Canalys Indian consumer survey
Canalys today released the first highlights from a new survey of
around 1,200 consumers, which explores the opportunity for
navigation and location-based services on mobile phones and portable
navigation devices (PNDs) in India. The survey results will be
presented at the Canalys Navigation Forum in Bangalore next week (13
May 2008). More information is available at
http://bangalore.canalysnavigationforum.com.
“The survey results indicate there is significant potential for
certain navigation and location-based services, particularly among
younger, tech-savvy, middle class consumers. While India is still in
its very early stages as a market for portable navigation devices,
and GPS is not yet widely understood as a technology, it is already
a significant market for smart phones, with over 3.5 million
shipping there over the past year. This provides a firm foundation
for mobile services in the future,” said Rachel Lashford, manager of
Canalys APAC.
87% of those surveyed said they would be comfortable to let
someone see their location if their phone were to broadcast it
continuously. 45% said they would want this restricted to people
they chose specifically, one-third would be happy to let their
spouse or partner see this information. These comfort levels were
higher than those shown by consumers in several Western European
countries surveyed by Canalys last year. The proportions prepared to
let work colleagues or all their social networking contacts see
their location were also higher in India.
“Consistent with this willingness to share location information,
the ability to track family members or friends was the
location-based service in which most expressed interest, with 40%
citing this as the most or second-most useful from a list of
applications presented, ahead of being able to discover what was on
at local cinemas and book seats and to locate and reserve seats in
nearby restaurants,” added Canalys analyst T.Y. Lau. “When asked
what services they would be prepared to pay for on their mobile
phone, getting maps and directions was the second highest rated
choice, only marginally behind mobile e-mail and ahead of web
browsing, mobile instant messaging, music and mobile TV.”
GPS navigation solutions, whether on a phone or on a dedicated
device, also have great potential to make life easier for drivers in
India. Of the frequent road users surveyed, 38% said they get stuck
in traffic jams at least once a day, a further 27% said they
encountered congestion every time they travelled and another 22% at
least once a week. Two-thirds of those that get stuck in jams said
the average delay was 10 to 30 minutes, with 11% finding it was
usually even longer. 58% of those that got stuck in traffic
regularly said they would be willing to pay for a solution that
re-routed them around the jams, while only 5% said they did not need
such a system.
“The interest is there,” Lashford added. “As PND prices come down
to more affordable levels and more smart phone-based solutions
emerge, we expect to see rapid growth in what is a huge potential
market.”
The future of the Indian navigation market will be discussed at
the Bangalore forum on 13 May. To attend the forum, or for more
information, please visit
http://bangalore.canalysnavigationforum.com.
About the survey
The Canalys consumer mobility survey for India was conducted
using an online panel in April 2008. 1,180 adult mobile phone owners
in India were surveyed, with approximately 20% of the respondents
coming from each of Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, and the remaining
40% from other locations. A results presentation will be made
available to attendees of the Canalys Navigation Forum in Bangalore
on 13 May 2008. Results from a similar survey among consumers in
Taiwan will be shown at the Canalys Navigation Forum in Taipei on 15
May 2008. Canalys regularly designs, conducts and analyses surveys
on consumer mobility in a number of countries.
About Canalys
Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data,
analysis and advice to the world’s leading technology vendors. It is
recognised as a key provider of continuous advisory services and
confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists
within blue-chip IT, telecoms, navigation and consumer electronics
companies. It has unrivalled expertise in routes to market for all
kinds of high technology products and services in the consumer, SMB
and large enterprise segments, and provides worldwide market data
and trends analysis.
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