WorldMate’s Retreat Leaves Itinerary-Organizing Rivals in Dogfight
Photo Caption: As of March 31, WorldMate's itinerary-management apps will be removed from mobile app stores by parent company Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
Skift Take
WorldMate suffered as many smartphones and other services added free travel notifications. But TripCase and TripIt still have fans among many frequent travelers.
Back in the days of Blackberrys, Nokia S60s, and Palm Pilots, WorldMate was the leading mobile app for organizing itineraries. During the 2000s, it was routinely one of the top 10 highest-grossing mobile apps.
Yet WorldMate is winding down after a 17-year-run, surprising many. (It claimed 10 million users.) At the end of March, travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel will pull the app from stores. By September it will stop supporting many of the app's functions. Gone. Poof.
Rivals now see an opening to gain share. The largest is TripIt, which touts having 13 million user accounts. It's run by travel expenses software company Concur, part of German software group SAP.
The other top competitor is TripCase, which claims 11 million user accounts. It is backed by travel software company Sabre.
There's a debate over user numbers. App Annie, which tracks downloads, says that in the U.S., TripIt has seen well over 5.7 million downloads since late 2009 and TripCase has see
