Etheriant Geoblog

Tele Atlas Buyout

I checked the headlines this morning on GISCafe and found this jewel…
TomTom Plans Bid For Tele Atlas

As this was just beginning to sink in I started to think of another possibility… Maybe Garmin would feel obligated to buy NAVTEQ.

I think in terms of consumer electronics, like the TomTom GPS navigation device and Garmin Nuvi equivalent, it would be advantageous for both to own their street data without licensing it. Although this is probably too simplistic a view. As popular as these devices are, that’s probably not what is driving this deal.

Street data is being used in so many apps, from internet to cell phones. My concern, at least with my day job is with good street data for geocoding. This is just not something that’s a big seller for either of these companies. It’s a minor part of their business.

So..the next site I usually check is O’Reilly Radar. This morning I found Mapping Data Heats Up: TomTom to Buy Tele Atlas

This article offers a really good analysis of the deal.  Goes beyond what I was originally thinking on this.  Such a deal could get the attention of either Microsoft or Google.  One of them could decide to buy the resulting TomTom-Tele Atlas, while the other takes the leftover, NAVTEQ.  I think both of these actions are highly likely.  Money isn’t a problem for either, and both street data companies fit right into their respective web mapping developments at Microsoft and Google.

Even since I’ve been using Tele Atlas data for the past five years, the name has changed.  Remember GDT?  I guess I’ll have to get used to another name change soon.  Even though I now use NAVTEQ data.  “NAVTEQ Street Data from Google, Inc.”?

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