iPhones will no longer carry the mapping services from its top competitor.
Apple has announced that by the fall, its iPhones will no longer be carrying the maps from Google, but will alternatively have a built in mobile commerce iOS mapping service for its users.
Mapping services have become a central part of the smartphone user’s experience.
They use their devices as a key method of the way that they navigate their own environment and the world as a whole. As such, a map is an important part of that effort.
Maps are also a core element to mobile commerce, as well as search and socializing. Until now, Google has, by far, been the leader in the map world for smartphones, as its maps are not only available on the devices with its own Android operating system, but also on every one of the iPhones that have been sold to date.
Apple, however, will no longer be handing its customers over to the competition, as it has decided to include its own map service, built into its devices starting in the autumn. They have determined that this service is simply too vital to m-commerce to allow themselves to hand it over to such a fierce rival.
The one question that is being asked is whether the Apple map service will be up to the task.
If Apple is incapable of producing an equal or superior service to that of Google, it risks losing many of its customers to Android devices. That said, should the company succeed, it will put significant pressure on its main rival, when there is already a great deal of competition in this sphere.
This could make Apple a far more valuable company and may cause Google to lose an important chunk of its user data, as well as the presence of its brand on Apple smartphones. Equally, though, they are taking a large risk, as some of their strongest users – their most valuable customers – may be irked by the new mapping service if it is not up to Google’s standards.
Apples latest mobile commerce move has not come as a surprise to most, as it has been acquiring mapping companies for some time now.
