LinkedIn’s iPad App Enables You To Look Busy While Job Searching

LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD) has launched an iPad app for its users to leverage rapidly growing tablet market to drive engagement on its platform. The iPad sells tens of millions of units every quarter and is the dominant tablet platform. LinkedIn already offered mobile apps for iOS and Android as well as an HTML 5 mobile website. However, the new app is targeted specifically at iPad users. ^[1]

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LinkedIn states that around 22% of its active members access the platform through mobile devices. As smartphone and tablet penetration increases, the percentage is only going to increase going forward. The new LinkedIn iPad app has been built with the tablet interface in mind. LinkedIn may also launch Android and Windows 8 tablet apps in the coming months.

The app offers an updates section, which displays a stream of updates from the user’s connections — status updates, news, shared stories etc. It also offers all the basic functionality that the web platform does — profile, connections, activities — optimized for the tablet interface. Increasing tablet usage could give LinkedIn an opportunity to increase advertising revenue through more interactive ad units, while driving engagement through its tablet apps, which would directly impact its core recruitment offering.

Ads and Marketing currently account for nearly 30% of LinkedIn’s total $44 value estimate, which stands nearly 50% below its market price. LinkedIn competes primarily with Facebook and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the online advertising space and Monster (NYSE:MWW) in online job search.

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1. Finally, Professional Social Network LinkedIn Gives Users An iPad App, Techcrunch [↩]