Google has been ranked highest amongst 27 indoor location companies in the latest Competitive Assessment released by ABI Research. The company’s indoor mapping, analytics/advertising capabilities, and potential to support a variety of indoor location technologies place it in a very strong position to address the huge revenue potential of this market.

Nokia/Microsoft, Qualcomm, shopkick, and Motorola Solutions/Nearbuy complete the top five in the analysis, which compares companies across 16 criteria relating to “innovation” and “implementation.”

On implementation, the combined efforts of Nokia and Microsoft topped the list, followed by Google, Qualcomm, Cisco/Meridian, and shopkick. Its strong value chain support, indoor mapping capabilities, and the high accuracy of its proposed Bluetooth indoor location technology, will enable it to reach across all handsets and penetrate both retail and commercial markets.

Google ranked highest on innovation, with Motorola/Nearbuy ranked second. “Motorola/Nearbuy’s unique, video-analytics/Wi-Fi technology, strong installed base of access points, and range of low-cost analytics services means it can come to market immediately”, says senior analyst Patrick Connolly. Path Intelligence also features in the top 5 for innovation. Its cellular-based technology and strong analytics offering is already deployed at a number of shopping malls.

The market is still at a very nascent stage, but market shares estimates of in-store deployments places shopkick way out ahead with over 7000 deployments of its audio-based technology, followed by companies such as Insiteo, Cisco/Meridian, and Polestar. Shopkick is the first of many emerging start-ups that are currently trialing or signing deals with major retailers. The report also considers a host of emerging handset-based technology providers such as Wi-fiSlam, Qubulus and Walkbase.

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.