A new research report from Berg Insight predicts that mobile location-based service revenue in Europe will grow from €220 million last year to reach €420 million (£349 million) in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 12%.
Local search, navigation services and social networking are expected to have the highest number of users, with a third of all mobile customers in Europe expected to be using location-enhanced applications by 2015.
André Malm, Senior Analyst at Berg Insight, said "Location-based services are finally on the verge of mainstream acceptance. Increasing sales of smartphones are driving end-user awareness of mobile internet services and applications in general. On-device application stores enable access to mobile services for a broader audience at the same time as flat-rate data plans make pricing more transparent. More and more developers are now adding location support in their applications to enhance the user experience. The installed base of GPS handsets in Europe has recently surpassed 15% of total handsets and will increase to 50% three years from now."