Foursquare surges past 10M user milestone

Foursquare now tops 10 million users worldwide, commemorating the milestone by releasing a new infographic that spotlights the location-based mobile social network's rapid growth. Foursquare launched in March 2009, with check-ins at local venues now surpassing 3 million each day.

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In the U.S., users check in most frequently at retailers (led by Target, Walmart and Macys), banks (Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo), apparel outlets (Old Navy, H&M and Victoria's Secret) and convenience stores (7-Eleven, Circle K and Wawa). Foursquare adds that U.S. users have visited 169 countries worldwide, checking in at 358 million international locations.

Despite media buzz and investor excitement around services like foursquare, mobile check-in services remain a niche interest according to data issued last month by digital research firm comScore. Only 16.7 million U.S. wireless subscribers checked in at local destinations via mobile device in March 2011, corresponding to 7.1 percent of the total nationwide mobile population, comScore reports. Smartphone users exhibit a far greater interest in mobile check-in tools: 12.7 million U.S. smartphone users checked in at nearby merchants, bars and venues in March, translating to 17.6 percent of the national smartphone population and 76.3 percent of all check-in app users.

Breaking down the U.S. check-in user population by smartphone operating system, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android leads all rivals at 36.6 percent. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform yields 33.7 percent of all smartphone check-ins, and Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry OS accounts for 22.0 percent of smartphone check-ins.

For more:
- read this foursquare blog entry

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