- HERE led in 8 out of 10 categories and 44 out of 84 sub-categories.
- TomTom’s new vision is paying handsomely and providing tough competition.
- Google is making headway in the automotive industry.
Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 5, 2024
HERE and TomTom have emerged as leaders in Counterpoint Research’s Location Platform Effectiveness Index for 2023. They are followed by Google, Mapbox and Baidu.
To help better understand the location ecosystem, key player offerings, capabilities and market trends, Counterpoint Research publishes the Location Platform Effectiveness Index report annually. It analyzes over 25 leading mapping and location platform vendors using our proprietary CORE (COmpetitive Ranking Evaluation) framework. This comprehensive evaluation is based on more than 80 key capabilities spanning 10 categories – (1) Maps data; (2) Location intelligence; (3) Location services; (4) Data platform; (5) AI capabilities; (6) Sustainability; (7) Developer ecosystem; (8) Partners; (9) Business performance and (10) Customer growth.
For companies across sectors such as automotive, transport and logistics, enterprise, O2O, retail and government, these capabilities are imperative to understand, choose and partner platforms. The abovementioned sectors heavily depend on location data, maps and related tools for their day-to-day planning, operations, and fleet and asset management among other location-centric applications.
HERE remains at the pole position of location platform rankings for the seventh consecutive year. In the last 12 months, HERE introduced highly automated AI/ML-driven mapping technology called Unimap to drive freshness, efficiency and customization at scale, giving it a unique advantage. The company continued to expand its portfolio by introducing new products and services like HERE Road Alerts and HERE Automated Driving Zones. Key companies added to HERE’s customer portfolio included Lotus, Scania, Ford, Vinfast, Uber and Cognizant.
Commenting on HERE’s success, Research Analyst Mohit Sharma said, “HERE’s commitment to sustained innovation along with a no-compromise approach towards data privacy and security have helped the company grow its customer and partner network.”
TomTom maintained its second position, inching closer to its industry peer HERE with a growing portfolio of offerings, capabilities and customer wins.
Commenting on TomTom’s growth, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “TomTom’s success is built on its new Orbis Platform with enhanced map quality and revamped developer ecosystem along with growing third-party network through its partnership with Microsoft. TomTom’s AI-based voice assistant for vehicles has put the company ahead of its peers like Google and HERE and complements its Digital Cockpit offering. The TomTom brand refresh along with a more usable website and developer portal have also helped.”
Google secured the third rank among location and mapping platform providers worldwide. The company continues to build services to offer immersive and real-world experiences to its customers by taking advantage of a vast database of satellite and aerial imagery.
Commenting on Google’s evolution, Vice President Research Neil Shah said, “Google is aggressively challenging the market leaders in automotive navigation by adding new map products and services (HD Map and EV charging) just for vehicles. Further, Google is looking to ‘flexibly’ license its maps data and services such as YouTube as a bundle without the automotive OS. It is happy to cede control over the data which has been the key bottleneck for OEMs who don’t want to share their data with Google.
Google also remained strong in the B2C sector thanks to 2 billion+ Android users and a robust app developer ecosystem attracting customers in the retail, logistics and O2O space.
Mapbox sustained its lead among the top five platforms globally. It is strong in the North American market and plans to expand in markets such as Japan and Europe. Enhanced platform capabilities such as Autopilot Map, AI-powered MapGPT and its industry-leading map and data visualization tools have helped Mapbox attract customers as well as funding to scale the platform.
Shah added, “For example, the recent funding from SoftBank will help Mapbox expand its automotive-centric offerings and bring AI capabilities to its platform that will further help the company stay competitive in the market and expand its global presence.”
Regional players like Baidu, MapmyIndia, Zenrin and Naver continue to lead in their home markets China, India, Japan and South Korea respectively.
Segment leaders
- HERE led in ADAS (ISA) Map, HD Map, EV services, tracking and positioning, Platform privacy, Security and more.
- TomTom led in Navigation, Offline maps, Traffic information, Infotainment and more.
- Google led mainly in Maps coverage, Data depth, POIs, AR, Indoor maps and other areas.
- Mapbox led in Developer evangelism, Visualization tools and more.
- ESRI led in Sustainability, Analytical tools, Digital twin and more.
The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Location Platform Effectiveness Index 2023 Part 1-Industry Overview and CORE Analysis’ is now available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com.
Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
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