Finnish Giant, Nokia has announced that its HERE mapping business will be sold to the German car consortium comprising of Audi, BMW and Daimler for 2.8 billion Euro ($3 billion). This is in a bid to concentrate on integration of Alcatel-Lucent which it acquired for $16.6 billion earlier this year. Mapping has been an important goal for the car industry as more cars are being connected. The deal is estimated to close in the first half of 2016, with Nokia netting 2.5 billion Euro ($2.74 billion) from the proceeds. There is presently competition from Google and Apple who have been in the mapping business for a while now. Nokia intends to move away from simple satellite-navigation-style directions with cars collecting data to share real-time updates on traffic, parking and other variables with other vehicles. According to Nokia, HERE mobile apps available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone will not be affected by this sale.
Uber and Baidu were the intital potential buyers of HERE maps until the German Consortium won the bid. HERE maps currently includes most major carmakers, as well as Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung and other technology companies.
The carmakers had announced during their purchase that the acquisition was intended to secure the long-term availability of Here’s products and services as an open, independent and value creating platform for cloud-based maps and other mobility services accessible to all customers from the automotive industry and other sectors.
Windows Central confirmed that Nokia will function as two business entities: Nokia Networks, which provides network and telecom infrastructure; and Nokia Technologies, which will continue to develop technology products.
The HERE business is also expected to play a participatory role in the development of self-driving cars.
https://youtu.be/Jv5bvxlagtY
