Apple Just One of Many Big Guns Entering $4 Billion Indoor Location Market

Apple, eBay, Google, and others are all making definite moves on indoor location in 2013, with a view towards a $4 billion plus market in 2018.

ABI Research’s quarterly Location Technologies Market Data measures the uptake of indoor location technologies, mapping and new companies entering the space. The overall market of technology installations is forecast to break the 25,000 mark in 2014, while handsets capable of supporting indoor location will be in the hundreds of millions within two years. As a result, the major companies will start to make their moves.

Senior analyst Patrick Connolly comments, “Apple’s new A7 co-processor coupled with the acquisition of WifiSLAM highlights indoor as a priority. Both Apple and eBay have announced support for dedicated BLE beacons, a technology that is set for a huge 2014 as major IC and device OEMs make it widely available. Google continues to expand on indoor mapping, and has openly discussed some of its indoor location plans at I/O. On the Wi-Fi side, four major AP providers (Cisco, Motorola, Aruba, Ruckus) have now acquired a company in this space. It was also interesting to see Nokia retain its mapping and indoor capabilities, identifying it as a new area for future growth.”

Practice Director, Dominique Bonte adds, “Apple hasn’t made a big marketing deal on indoor with the new iPhone 5s, largely because the ecosystem isn’t in place yet. But under the shiny, spotted hood, is a hardware platform that is now well placed to support “always-on” indoor location, sensor fusion, and ambient intelligence.”

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Location Technologies Research Service, which includes Research Reports, Market Data, Insights, and Competitive Assessments focused on the indoor location market.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.