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Upside of Location-Based Services in China

China's mobile Location-Based Services (LBS) market is still in an early stage, but a recent market study shows there is a high demand for these mobile services, according to In-Stat.

To date, a scarcity of low-priced GPS handsets and easy-to-use applications, rather than high service price, have constrained usage, the high-tech market research firm says.

"We believe that with falling GPS phone prices and more attractive and easy-to-use applications (i.e. LBS client) in place, mobile LBS will be accepted on a large scale," says Frances Guan, In-Stat analyst. "In the future, we believe that services that combine LBS and other mobile value-added services will be very competitive."

The research report entitled "GPS Phones Will Lead Mobile LBS Spending" covers the market for mobile location-based services in China. It contains analysis of an In-Stat consumer survey regarding mobile services, including LBS. It provides insight into the attitudes and perceptions of Chinese consumers towards LBS, including how much they are willing to pay for these services.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- Existing mobile LBS users are mainly business subscribers with higher than average income.

- Local information and navigation applications are the most popular mobile LBS concepts.

- Survey respondents who are in the 35-39 and 18-29 age groups, including students and technical engineers with high and middle range income, showed strong interest in mobile LBS.

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