It was barely two months ago when we reported that TomTom was working to acquire Tele Atlas, a deal that set off speculation that NAVTEQ would be bought by Garmin or someone else. If Garmin wanted the other major road data provider, they waited too long though.
Today, cell phone manufacturer Nokia and NAVTEQ announced that Nokia plans to purchase the company. If the acquisition is successful,
"NAVTEQ’s current map data business will continue operationally independent, but organizationally a Nokia Group company…This will ensure that NAVTEQ’s current and future customers continue to have a dedicated and strengthened unit serving them as before with digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, as well as government and business solutions."
Such assurances aside, I have to wonder about the deal’s impact on Garmin. I remain unconvinced that cell phones pose a great threat to PND manufacturers, but will Nokia get first crack at new features, data and capabilities via NAVTEQ? And now that NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas are spoken for, who’s the next takeover target? I’m betting that traffic data provider INRIX sure is taking notice.
About Rich Owings
I have been covering Navteq for a while. Here is my analysis:
http://sramanamitra.com/2007/1…..comes-key/
This is an excellent move on Nokia’s part. Note, there is no other indepdendent GIS data vendor in the market.
Regards, Sramana