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I keep hearing rumors Apple is considering buying TomTom, insane if you ask me.
The prediction, among other for Apple and other companies, is from CCS Insight director of research Ben Wood.
"Apple to buy TomTom"
This one makes sense because Apple clearly wants to reduce its dependence on Google Maps (recall last year's PlaceBase purchase?) and such a move would help by giving Apple the mapping assets of Tele Atlas, just as it would also give Apple a bunch of patents pertaining to turn-by-turn navigation and more.
Better yet, you could expect a wave of useful location-based features to reach MobileMe, third party apps, and, of course, Apple's iAds system. And, of course, such a purchase could assist Apple should it decide to make a stab at the auto-electronics market.
Tom Tom shares are currently trading at €7.81 -- while that's down a few cents on the stock's opening price, this means trades are currently set at their highest for the last 12 months.
TomTom shares have risen nearly 10% as speculation that Apple are considering a stake continued.
Shares reached an 8 month high this morning as a result of the gossip although some traders think it unlikely that Apple will seek to grab a stake.
Earlier this week TomTom took centre stage during the Keynote opening speech at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference where they were chosen to take the lead announcement of the first iPhone Navigation application.
TomToms decision to design a custom car cradle that has its own GPS receiver is interesting given the talk of Apple taking a stake. Admittance that the iPhone needs help with GPS reception would not normally be seen as a positive yet Apple still chose TomTom from a number of manufacturers to demo during the Keynote speech.Over at research firm CCS Insight, analyst Ben Wood is out with some interesting predictions for 2011, including one that cash-rich Apple (AAPL) will by GPS firm TomTom. Wood, formerly at Gartner, is a top wireless industry analysts, and I’m not just saying that so he returns my calls.
The iPhone and iPad maker will by the GPS firm because it’s “motivated by a desire to own the mapping assets of (TomTom-owned) Tele Atlas and reduce Apple’s dependence on Google (GOOG) for map services,” wrote Wood.Last edited by Entertainment72; 12-20-10 at 10:23 AM.
12-20-10 10:19 AM - Exactly. It is going to be great for iPhone users as well because you can bet any amount of money that if Apple does release free GPS turn by turn, the current GPS apps in the app store are going to have a huge price drop.yea that pretty much confirms apples plans to me....got the maps company now looking for engineers...... I'm pretty sure it's safe to say apple wants there own nav.
like you said win win
.... nothing better them 2 companies competing... in the end we are the ones that benefit
Steve also said big changes are coming to MobileMe. Maybe turn by turn navigation might come with the package now.12-20-10 10:21 AM
