| Type | Subsidiary of Nokia |
|---|---|
| Industry | GPS data and services, Navigation software |
| Founded |
1985 (Karlin & Collins, Inc.) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Key people | Larry Kaplan, CEO |
| Revenue | US$853 Million (at 2007-12-31 prior to takeover)[1] |
| Net income | US$172 Million (at 2007-12-31 prior to takeover)[1] |
| Total assets | US$1.3 Billion (at 2007-12-31 prior to takeover)[1] |
| Total equity | US$1.0 Billion (at 2007-12-31 prior to takeover)[1] |
| Employees | 4,400 (2009)[2] |
| Parent | Nokia |
| Website | www.navteq.com |
Navteq is a Chicago, Illinois-based provider of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data and is a dominant company in providing the base electronic navigable maps. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia but operates independently.
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Navteq's underlying map database is based on first-hand observation of geographic features rather than relying on official government maps.
It provides data used in a wide range of applications, including automotive navigation systems for many car makers, accounting for around 85% of market share.
Portable GPS devices made by Garmin, Lowrance, NDrive and web-based applications, such as Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps, and MapQuest also use its maps.[3] Microsoft's Flight Simulator X uses Navteq data for automatic terrain generation.
Nokia Maps also use its maps in smartphones. Nokia Maps provides offline maps, eliminating the need for a constant internet data feed.
Navteq is also the data aggregator used by XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio to display traffic data on navigation systems that are capable of that display, and partners with various third party agencies and companies to provide government and transportation related services, such as the GPS and GSM-based sex offender tracking system currently in use in parts of North Carolina and Georgia.
Navteq also provides graphics systems, information services and personnel for TV and radio broadcasting (Navteq Media Services). Most of the clients utilize Navteq for providing broadcast traffic reports in major metro areas throughout North America.
Navteq also has smaller offices in Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Atlanta, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Boston, Fargo, San Diego, and throughout most big cities around the world, where Navteq cartographers live.
Its main competitors are the American company Google and the Dutch company Tele Atlas.
Map errors are handled using Navteq Map Reporter, which is described as a "community based online tool for suggesting changes to the Navteq map".[4] The Navteq Map Reporter's API makes it possible for manufacturers of devices using navteq maps to build in error reporting features in to their products.[5] Map errors are reported by users of products lacking such error reporting feature, which are most, via the Navteq Map Reporter page.[6]
The company was founded in 1985 by Barry Karlin and Galen Collins. Karlin, who was originally from South Africa told interviewers that he started the company after being frustrated with a paper map of the San Francisco, California area. He thought "Wouldn't it be nice if I had someone sitting next to me in the car who knew the way?'"[7]
Collins created a pilot of a navigation system in the San Francisco area. However, basic testing showed the system could generate impossible directions. They realized that the system not only had to have accurate maps, but also detailed data on turn restrictions, one-way streets and other local issues.[7]
They were turned down by most venture capital firms in their attempts to finance the database. The president of Budget Rent A Car then suggested they talk to T. Russell Shields, a Chicago entrepreneur who had founded Shields Enterprises International, which became SEI Information Technology, which had specialized in building order fulfilment databases. Shields provided US$500,000 in seed money.[7]
In 1985 Karlin & Collins, Inc. based in Sunnyvale, California began comprehensive mapping of the San Francisco area getting another US$2.5 million from Prudential Bache. Karlin and Collins made use of the newly created U.S. Census electronic map which was matched with aerial photographs. They hired people to drive every road carrying a Dictaphone describing the position. In lieu of using a GPS, they kept track of the location of the vehicle by using a dead reckoning system that relied on a gyro compass.[7]
It took about two years before they unveiled their first product, DriverGuide, which was a computer kiosk that could be used at car rental locations and hotel lobbies to provide door-to-door printed directions. Later, 80 machines costing US$12,000 were placed around San Francisco Bay Area and drivers paid 50 cents for the directions.
With the success of the kiosks in 1987, Shields invested another $3 million on condition he be named chief operating officer. The company was renamed Navigation Technologies Corporation.
A competitive environment was quickly arising with Etak being the most notable. Etak's offering showed your location on the map but did not offer directions.
In the 1990s the company changed its business model so that instead of building kiosks itself, it licensed its maps to be used by other hardware makers.
Philips Electronics acquired the company in the early 1990s and invested nearly US$600 Million in building the database for a car-based mapping device that was ultimately scrapped. Both Karlin and Collins left in the takeover but Shields remained, becoming CEO and moving its headquarters to Chicago in 1996.
It established its first European office, named European Geographic Technologies (EGT), in 1991, and offices in Yokohama, Japan in 1996.
Philips on several occasions tried to take the company public but backed off each time until finally going public in February 2004 being listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "NVT."
It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois (USA) with more than 4,400 employees worldwide. With a regional European headquarters located in Veldhoven, Netherlands, a major production facility in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, and support centers in Seoul, South Korea, Mexico City, Mexico and in Yokohama, Japan, Navteq is located in 144 offices in 60 countries.
In early 2007, Navteq acquired The Map Network, the largest supplier of mapping to local US tourism and convention agencies. Later that year, Navteq moved their headquarters from Chicago's Merchandise Mart complex to the Boeing Building in Chicago.
In September 2009, Navteq acquired Acuity Mobile, a mobile marketing technology company.
On October 1, 2007, it was announced that Nokia would acquire Navteq in a deal valued at an estimated US$8.1 billion (€5.7 billion). Navteq shareholders approved the deal in December 2007. The European Commission in July 2008 ruled the deal did not violate anti-trust rules clearing the way for closing the deal.[8][9]
Navteq's principal rival Tele Atlas was acquired by TomTom in 2008.
On December 13, 2010, it was announced that Navteq purchased Trapster, a four-person California-based company that provides a free mobile and web application that includes such community-generated content as speed traps, red-light cameras, and road hazard alerts. Trapster was a finalist in Navteq’s 2008 Global LBS Challenge. A Navteq spokesperson said that "Navteq believes that community-generated data has a critical part to play in location content".[10]