
Please try another search
Finally, Apple Inc. (AAPL) seems to have taken the mapping business seriously. Reportedly, Apple recently acquired Embark, which offers mass transit information of selected cities in Europe and the U.S. However, the financials associated with the deal were not disclosed.
The current deal follows back-to-back acquisitions of HopStop.com Inc. and Locationary Inc.in Jul 2013. These were preceded by the takeover of WiFiSLAM, a provider of indoor mapping application technology earlier this year.
Traditionally, Apple had been using Google (GOOG) maps in its iOS-based devices. The company had been eyeing the market for a long time and bought C3 Technologies (Aug 2011), Poly9 (Jul, 2010) and Place base (Sep 2009) to strengthen its service.
Apple’s aggressive push into the mapping business is also evident from the fact that it is continuously hiring mapping experts to its current talent pool.
Although Apple released its mapping application with iPhone 5 in 2012, the botched up service received a fair bit of criticism, primarily due to inaccurate data. Since then, Apple has been focusing on improving the service and these acquisitions will significantly help it in this regard.
Moreover, it would help the company to compete with Google’s mapping service, which continues to dominate the market segment to date. To maintain the lead in the mapping services market, Google recently acquired Waze Inc.
However, at a time when Apple is facing tough competition from Google, Blackberry (BBRY), Samsungand Nokia Corp. (NOK), we believe the company needs to innovate to outsmart its competitors.
In this regard, we note that Apple has a knack for acquiring small start-up technology companies that can be synergized with its current product portfolio. Moreover, these acquisitions enable Apple to deliver ready-made solutions and technological know-how for specific problems. We believe that this acquisition policy would benefit the company over the long run.
Apple has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Original post
• Trump’s trade war, inflation data, and last batch of earnings will be in focus this week. • DoorDash’s imminent inclusion in the S&P 500 is likely to trigger a wave of...
The big US stocks dominating markets and investors’ portfolios just finished another earnings season. They reported spectacular collective results including record sales, profits,...
“Quality” stocks with strong fundamentals tend to be rewarding places to stash hard-earned money. Since 2009, investing in a basket of quality stocks over a standard index has...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.