AutoNavi's free app seeks to lure users

AutoNavi, which provides a map service for iPhone on the Chinese mainland, yesterday started to offer users a free mobile navigation service as it aims to attract more users and seek new opportunities in the mobile Internet industry.

AutoNavi Navigation, which was the No. 1 non-game paid application in Apple's App Store in China and cost users 50 yuan (US$7.90), is the most popular mobile navigation app in the domestic market with about 70 million users. It offers mobile phone users offline navigation services with 3D road and voice recognition features.

"Map and location data and services have become key strategic assets for every mobile Internet firm," said Cheng Congzhou, AutoNavi's chairman and chief executive.

"It's a new start for us to reshape our products in the new (mobile Internet) era."

At the end of the second quarter, AutoNavi had more than 30 percent of the domestic mobile navigation market, ranking No. 1, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Separately, Baidu Inc also said it will offer free services in the mobile navigation and map service market of more than 500 million handset users in China.

Nasdaq-listed AutoNavi aims to provide value-added services, which include car-related services like car care and insurance, to 100 million car owners as well as to 500 million smartphone users in China.

In May, Alibaba announced an investment of US$294 million for 28 percent of AutoNavi. It may integrate AutoNavi's map and location data with Alibaba's data of users and shop owners to offer O2O (online to offline) services, one of the hottest in the mobile Internet industry. The new services will debut in the fourth quarter.