TomTom has announced that Apple will continue sourcing data from the company as one data provider for its Maps app on iOS devices and Mac:
Amsterdam, 19 May 2015 – TomTom (AEX: TOM2) has renewed and extended its global agreement with Apple for maps and related information.
Reuters notes that TomTom shares jumped 7 percent to an almost six-year high following the announcement.
Apple has been sourcing data from TomTom for its in-house Maps application since first ditching Google Maps back in 2012. The company is listed at the top of Apple’s attribution page for contributors to Maps, alongside a long list of other companies that provide business listing and maps data, including: booking.com, DigitalGlobe, TripAdvisor, Waze, Yelp and many others.
Earlier this week, Apple confirmed an acquisition of GPS company Coherent Navigation, a move that could help it bolster Maps accuracy. Most recently Apple has been one of many rumored to be a potential bidder for Nokia’s HERE Maps division.
Today’s report didn’t offer any details on the deal between Apple and TomTom, but Reuters adds speculation from analysts that the deal “may be skewed in Apple’s favor due to the prestige that accrues to TomTom for working with the U.S. company.”
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Hear! Hear!
I’d love to see an improvement in GPS accuracy if only to improve, “Find my iPhone,” mapping; however, I doubt we’ll see the fruition of the feature from the Coherent Navigation purchase. Chances are they just did it to prevent Google from buying them first.
Why wouldn’t they use the tech they acquired??!!
I see them using this tech (accurate to within centimeters…) to integrate into the iBeacon system that seems to have stagnated….
Imagine a grocery app that directs you within centimeters of each item!
This is the key to indoor mapping, imo.
Man I was hoping they get HERE. I really like their app
I honestly hope Apple or Google buys Nokia’s maps! I have a Honda Civic Coupe which gives me the ability to mirror Honda Apps onto my dash (hopefully ill get CarPlay as an update soon, HURRY UP Honda!!!), and the GPS App isn’t all that great, but it gives me GPS so i’m not complaining. But this App uses Nokia’s Maps… If someone else buys them i fear these maps being ruined, if i don’t get a CarPlay update, which Honda said was coming this year, then i’m going to be forced to buy a new dash if the Maps get messed up after some other company buys them..
I don’t think Nokia’s maps have anything to offer Apple nor Google. TomTom’s data is arguably at-par or better, and so too is Google’s – they’ve already replaced every road they licensed from Navteq (Nokia) and TeleAtlas (TomTom).
In some places (like Ukraine) TomTom data is awful making Apple maps completely useless even in big cities, it’s waaaay behind Google or Nokia maps. So really TomTom is probably only working for Western markets.
My opinion is that Apple secured it’s right to use the faremost better online and offline Tomtom mapping (IoT) with the knowledge that the less accurate Nokia Here goes to rival Microsoft or Google (with poor operating Maps).
At least one american is awake:
Apple Renews Maps Agreement With TomTom, Will It Buy The Company?
Deal comes against backdrop of potential HERE Maps sale for billions.
Greg Sterling on May 19, 2015 at 5:32 pm
Reuters reported this afternoon that publicly traded TomTom is up on news that its mapping-data contract with Apple has been renewed. Rival HERE (Nokia) is currently for sale and may fetch as much as $4 billion dollars.
There aren’t many global mapping data vendors available; and there’s a great deal of interest if not competitive bidding for Nokia’s HERE. Identified and rumored bidders include Uber, Baidu, Microsoft, German automakers, private equity and others. Any of these players could turn around, if unsuccessful with HERE, and try to buy TomTom.
The company offers a range of mobile and in-car navigation and mapping products.
tomTom products
Yesterday TomTom was worth less than $2 billion. Today on news of the Apple renewal the company’s value has risen to $2.1 billion. Still that’s half of what HERE will probably bring in for Nokia.
This weekend Apple confirmed acquisition of a company called Coherent Navigation, which offers more precise GPS location by combining signals from higher and lower orbit satellites. If I were Apple I might take a hard look at TomTom, given how strategic mapping and location data have become and how few remaining companies could match it globally.
As much as I would like Apple to succeed with their Maps app, I want TomTom to die a fast and horrible death for their business plan to charge end users $80 a quarter for map updates on their old devices.
Die TomTom, Die!!! :-)