Social media giant Facebook is showing a strong interest in Nokia’s HERE mapping suite for its mobile offerings. TechCrunch first flagged the move up, which was subsequently confirmed by both companies.

Scott Bicheno

May 5, 2015

1 Min Read
Facebook moving towards Nokia’s HERE for mobile

Social media giant Facebook is showing a strong interest in Nokia’s HERE mapping suite for its mobile offerings. TechCrunch first flagged the move up, which was subsequently confirmed by both companies.

HERE products are apparently being used for maps accessed on Facebook via a mobile browser (as opposed to the mobile app), although a quick check revealed Bing in the UK, so maybe this is a US-only thing for now. The report says Facebook is also testing HERE on some apps such as Instagram and Messenger.

Facebook’s sudden interest in HERE coincides with Nokia announcing it is “considering options” for HERE, which include selling it. This is considered the most likely option, especially since acquiring Alcatel Lucent will cost almost €16 billion.

There are very few sources of mapping data, which is why Nokia paid $8 billion for Navteq back in 2007. That acquisition is essentially what HERE is today, although the suggested sale value of $2 billion suggests there isn’t the money in mapping that Nokia thought there would be eight years ago.

But having said that, maybe LBS (location based services) just hasn’t got it right yet and when it does there will be a distinct strategic advantage to owning your own maps. This is why Google and Apple have invested so much in mapping (with mixed results) and it’s not difficult to see acquisitive Facebook being tempted.

About the Author(s)

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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