Get a sneak peek at whats next for Permanent Hazards on our April 7th Office Hours!
Post by fvwazing
dmcconachie wrote:
jmp316 wrote:
Interesting. Maybe just some ploy by waze to get more users?
Nah, they don't need to employ tactics like that. M&A rumours like this are daily occurrences for both mega companies and start-ups alike. Not the first time Waze's name has been involved, won't be the last.
Yes, no need. As I write this Waze is the most downloaded navigation-app for iPhone in 17 countries, 45 countries have Waze in the top-3.
fvwazing
Posts: 3589
Has thanked: 125 times
Been thanked: 101 times
Send a message
Waze jezelf!
600K+ edits
AM for some 25.000 km² around Maastricht, the Netherlands
iPhone 3Gs / iOS 6.0.1

gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
fvwazing wrote:Do I have to remind you all that tomtom's downfall started with the €250M acquisition of, what was it, TeleAtlas?
Maybe they overpaid for TeleAtlas... TomTom's downfall was them not moving quickly enough to address the market changing from stand alone PNDs to SmartPhone applications. In addition, their pricing model is outdated. Most SmartPhone users are not going to pay USD $50, $75, for a SmartPhone app + $20/year for a traffic subscription. As we know there are many viable options from other companies such as Motion-X, Waze, etc, etc. for free or $.99 USD.
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
My opinion on this matter:

* Money talks. If the investors in Waze are looking to cash out and get rich, it's hard to pass up $500 - $750 million dollars. Keep in mind that Waze has other investors that probably don't share passion of the Waze founders Ehud, Uri and Amir - they just want to make money on their investment.

* I feel that Apple would be foolish to make this acquisition. Many of the issues that iOS users have with Apple Maps involves POI data. The underlying map data via Apple's agreements with TomTom (TeleAtlas maps) and others such as Waze mapping data for Israel is sound. Waze can't help Apple with their 3-D flyover bling. Waze could not route anywhere without the external street address and POI data that comes from other providers. Apple should be focusing on striking more agreements for POI data and integrate multiple sources into their solution.

* Apple needs to come to the realization that they don't have to offer the best experience with their own iOS pre-installed applications. The trend is to replace most/all of the pre-loaded applications with better Apps from the App Store. Google has better alternatives for many of the built in Apps - Maps, Gmail, Drive, etc. Others such as Instagram, Evernote, etc can replace others. There are plenty of alternatives to Apple Maps. Apple needs to stop the over-investment in their own Maps application and embrace that their users are going to download another App anyway.
With all of this said I suspect Waze is going to sell if they get their price. Waze has been struggling to monetize. It's surely a good option for the investors to cash out making a profit. None of the external investors really care about 'the community'.
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
Colonel667 wrote:If Waze sells for $750m and has 30m users, that's $25 per user. I guess at least $15-$20 average per user for the maps and statistical data alone, the client itself probably isn't worth all that much.
It's apx. 30 million Waze accounts. This number is not active users. Waze has kept a very tight lid on the number of active users.
Colonel667 wrote: ...maybe we should try and get someone to start a similar project based on existing and open source maps...
There already is at least one alternative - OpenStreetMap - http://www.openstreetmap.org/
There are some Apps available now that use this data. Here is an example: http://www.skobbler.com/
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
Keep in mind that when editing Waze maps and providing other data - we are NOT creating any open source maps. We are working with data the Waze is using. Waze, a for profit company.

edit - clarified owns vs uses
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
Poopstick wrote:As for what apple could do with Waze: what they want is traffic data and maybe a pair of navigation algorithms. They don't give a damn about the community and the road layer. Waze's maps are probably not something which could be merged easily with Apple's, especially with all the imperfections.
Although I don't know that Apples cares about traffic data or navigation algorithms unless they want to sever ties with TomTom. TomTom appears to be providing both the traffic and routing data. (at least in the USA) I suspect Apple is contributing traffic data from iOS devices back to TomTom to be incorporated in their traffic data that TomTom gathers from multiple sources.
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gettingthere
Colonel667 wrote:Doesn't Waze already sell traffic data, without selling their whole company?
This was one of the original plans that Waze had to generate income. I believe that Waze had later determined that this data wasn't going to pan out and they are no longer focusing on this approach. I don't believe there is any confirmation of Waze selling any traffic data to any other providers. There are the general 'Waze provides data' in iOS maps - we don't know specifically what data other than mapping data of Israel that was discovered by other forum members in the past.
gettingthere
EmeritusChamps
EmeritusChamps
Posts: 6092
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Send a message
San Diego, California USA and Tijuana, Mexico

Post by gordonski
750 Million is the sum TechCrunch also mentiones.
The Israeli blog Newsgeek supposedly also talks about 500 Millions offered by Apple (my Hebrew ain't the best....).
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported about lower offers before.
And here's another one.
gordonski
Posts: 988
Has thanked: 149 times
Been thanked: 264 times
Send a message
No stop signs, speed limitdownload/file.php?id=44782Nobody's gonna slow me down!
Area Manager in DN/BM/AC (NRW)
Wiki | Liste aller Gemeinden/Städte

Post by gordonski
When they sell the maps we created to Apple, each Wazer should be given 1$ per map edit. :lol:
I'll try to break the 200K before that happens... ;)
gordonski
Posts: 988
Has thanked: 149 times
Been thanked: 264 times
Send a message
No stop signs, speed limitdownload/file.php?id=44782Nobody's gonna slow me down!
Area Manager in DN/BM/AC (NRW)
Wiki | Liste aller Gemeinden/Städte