Apple's maps problems boost Israel's Waze

The market share of Waze's navigation app has risen from 7% of US iPhone users to 10%.

21 October 12 10:54, Noa Parag

Israel's Waze Ltd. is one company benefiting in the long term from the crisis in Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) maps application. "TechCrunch" cites data collated by Onava, according to which "Waze boosted its market share to 10% of US iPhone users from 7%." The increase came after Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for glitches in Apple's app.

Last month, Cook admitted that Apple's map app was inaccurate and had many flaws, and he even advised users to download alternative navigation apps, including Waze. Following this warm recommendation, Waze said that its daily downloads jumped from 70,000 per day to 100,000.

According to the figures, US iPhone users also downloaded Microsoft’s Bing and MapQuest, but only Waze has been able to maintain its momentum and increase its market share, following Cook's admission.

Last month, Waze announced that it had 26 million users, up from 10 million at the beginning of the year. Although Waze's app is an alternative to Apple's maps app, the two companies are cooperating, with Waze feeding real-time data into Apple's maps app.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 21, 2012

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