Although it has long been expected, it really looks like one of the most important USPs in the mobile internet world is going to be location. Therefore the importance of maps comes to the fore.
Three mobile ecosystems are going to be fighting it out. Microsoft with Windows 8 – where Nokia will be the partner on maps. Android -where obviously Google Maps will be supplier. And Apple. Up until this week, Apple had utilised Google maps too but has now moved away from them by striking a deal with TomTom as well as commissioning their own 3D aerial maps. This has sent struggling TomTom shares up c20%. (Sorry not to include RIM/Blackberry in this list but…)
In the ‘Internet of Things’ location is a ‘key’ driver. Ultimately I believe that everything will ‘connected’ and (well, at least for the stuff that moves) location is king as in “Where is my cat, kids, cow, car, phone…keys?” Also, more and more advertising will be location specific as in “Why not pop into Lucy’s cake shop around the next corner for a special deal on cream éclairs?” GPS is finding its way into more and more devices already. I tried to buy a new camera last week and couldn’t find any of the latest models that didn’t have GPS.
As a life-long ‘services’ guy, it is interesting to see that in the key smartphone market all the phones are now basically the same from a hardware viewpoint. The only differentiator is the services offered as part of their ecosystem. That not only explains the current frenzy to secure the best mapping but also the very high prices paid for add-on mobile services companies and content in particular.
We are in for an exciting 12 months which could well see some mega names fail in this new ‘race to death’.