Finnish multinational communications and information technology company Nokia Corporation is selling its Here mapping services to a group of German car makers. The sale, which is $3.07 billion, is part of the company's larger goal of transforming into a networking company, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said.
The Nokia Here deal is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2016. According to USA Today, the sale comes almost a year after the company handed over its smartphone and cellular handset business to Microsoft.
Ever since it was first launched, Nokia's mapping services, Here, has wowed the tech and business sectors. Now, it seems to be impressive enough for a group of German car manufacturers comprising AUDI AG, BMW Group, and Daimler AG (which owns Mercedes) to acquire it for $3.07 billion.
Two weeks ago, the Nokia Here acquisition was predicted by the Wall Street Journal. At that time, the publication suggested that the three car makers would also be looking for other manufacturers to invest in the new business.
Digital maps are no longer just useful for humans. They are now driving the autonomous machines on the streets, too. And as stressed by Nokia, HERE, which was acquired by the company from Navteq in 2008, uses data produced by vehicles, devices and infrastructure to deliver real-time, predictive and personalized location services. The features will allow a driver to experience highly automated driving, Gizmodo noted.
Nokia's real time mapping technology, Here, is also clearly quite useful for companies looking to implement improved on-demand services including traffic monitoring and travel commerce analytics, which might result in Google's services dependency reduction, Android Authority has learned.
"All carmakers are working toward providing amazing, new connected services, and only by collaborating and sharing data can we reach the critical mass to make real-time map updates a reality," Nokia Here's Pino Bonetti said.
It remains unclear what the Nokia Here purchase means for the mapping service. But it is still currently available as an app on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. HERE maps will likely be used by the German car companies to expand on map and navigation services and hasten the development of self-driving cars.
Meanwhile, Nokia shares were trading low Monday morning amid the company's Here mapping deal.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
