Blackberry Mobility Featured Article

A new report by Juniper Research states that the market for mobile-augmented reality services will reach $732 million by 2014, with revenues largely derived from paid application downloads, subscription-based services and advertising.

Juniper’s “Mobile Augmented Reality” report found that annual revenues from AR are not likely to exceed $2 million during 2010, because only a small minority of smartphones will be AR-enabled.

However, this figure is expected to rise in the medium term, with increasing adoption of Google Android handsets and Apple (News - Alert) iPhones, along with greater deployment of “AR enablers” like digital compasses and accelerometers.

Initial service adoption will be driven by AR location-based search, but Juniper Research (News - Alert) expects first revenues to be coming from AR-based games, and bolstered by revenues from mobile enterprise solutions from 2012 onwards. AR advertising is expected to attract brands and retailers as the potential user base increases, with AR ad networks able to charge higher CPC and CPM rates because of location relevance.

However, the Juniper report emphasizes that even if AR geotagging presents a wealth of opportunities, providers should carefully consider the potential legal implications of enabling such services.

“The problem is that the embryonic nature of the technology means that we have no legal or regulatory framework in place which specifically covers augmented reality,” said report author Windsor Holden. “For example, can a house-owner legitimately demand that a geotag of his or her property be removed? Would that third party require prior permission before creating a tag (News - Alert)?”

The report noted that incremental revenues from subscriptions, upsold content and licences will together compose the largest AR revenue stream by 2014, overhauling point of sale revenues. It is also expected that 350 million handsets will be AR-enabled by 2014.