Summary
All one needs to do is to look at the flyers from companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, and Walmart etc. to find out that GPS devices are the hot items today for consumers. Companies like Nokia have already taken a giant leap by acquiring Navteq and plan to integrate GPS technology in their cell phones. Google’s entry into this arena by establishing an alliance with TomTom is a step in the right direction and hugely profitable one.
Analysis
If you look closely, what is and has been happening is that cell phones and handheld devices are taking over our lives and every company is clamoring to get the consumer to get a device which can be the be all and the end all.
Consumers in Japan have been using their cell phone for a myriad of uses, from making and receiving calls to using it as a cash-substitute but soon enough they will be able
to read information from a bill board, like a URL and then use the URL for obtaining more information. Similar is the case in Korea where cell phones are an accepted mechanism of making purchases from downloading songs to newspaper subscriptions to buying a coke. Take this one step further. If companies know where you are via a GPS tied to a cell phone or a TomTom device hooked on to the internet, companies can pitch products and services in the form of targeted ads anywhere and everywhere thereby increasing their reach.
Google is entering into the 700-Mhz spectrum in January 2008 which will propel Google into the wireless world. Their alliance with TomTom will only solidify their offering as they can now combine their offerings in email, Google Earth, calendar and Google Maps. Google’s entry into this seems to be well planned and will be a strong competitor to Nokia and Navteq.
Bottom line, companies want consumers to have one device, their device that can do everything from music, GPS, email, calendar, maps, phone, web browser that will then hook them for life. Nokia has made a good beginning in this direction although lacks in some areas. Google, on the other hand will become a strong competitor as they already have all the components, albeit not tightly coupled with a device. Their alliance with TomTom gets them closer to their vision.
