Apple Chooses TomTom for Mapping Services, Setting Up Battle with Google

Apple signed TomTom for mapping services, and is apparently jettisoning Google Maps, to set up a potential collision between the two industry giants.  The deal between the media giant and TomTom came after Apple rolled out mapping options for its new operating system at a conference in San Francisco.

The deal can’t come soon enough for TomTom, which provides maps for Google. However, that deal is ending soon, according to published reports.

“Apple’s choice of TomTom is a marriage of necessity on both sides. From Apple’s perspective, they needed a worldwide, navigation-quality digital map that was not built by a competitor,” said Marc Prioleau, principal Prioleau Advisors and author of industry blog, prioleauadv.com. “That leaves only TomTom. From Tom Tom’s perspective, they needed a toehold in the mobile mapping business which was otherwise going to Google and Nokia. The partnership was needed by both parties.”

Prioleau said it be interesting to see if the relationship involves deeper cooperation between the two companies than is typical. “That will likely determine if this is a long term arrangement,” he said. “Google obviously has a new, well-resourced competitor in Apple. I doubt they cared whether Apple chose TomTom or someone else. They are reducing Tom Tom’s role on Google Maps anyway.”

What will be more interesting to Google will be whether Apple will share traffic and user data with TomTom to improve and maintain the maps, Prioleau said.

Until perhaps now, Google has dominated all phases of the location and navigation industry. Google Maps software not only runs on the Android operating system, but also on Apple’s iOS platform.

Both Apple and TomTom have been tight-lipped about the new licensing agreement. Industry observers believe that the deal will be a windfall for TomTom, though how much of one remains to be seen. TomTom, along with other navigation companies, has seen a huge drop in the sale of portable navigation devices