Apple looking to buy Waze to rescue Maps app?

NEW DELHI: Apple is in advanced stages of negotiations for acquiring Israel-based social mapping start-up Waze, according to a media report. Waze is a popular mapping application on iOS and Android platforms and was recommended by Apple CEO Tim Cook as an alternative to its home-grown Map app.

According to Techcrunch, Apple and Waze are negotiating the financial details of the deal. While Apple is believed to be willing to offer $400 million and an additional $100 million as incentives for the acquisition, Waze is said to be eyeing $750 million.

Waze has raised $67 million through venture capital funding and earned $1 million in revenue during FY2012, mainly through advertising. The company is an official data partner for Apple Maps, along with the likes of TomTom, Getchee, Localeze etc. After Cook apologised for the Maps fiasco, the daily downloads of Waze jumped from 70,000 to 1,00,000, the company revealed.

In fact, mobile data compression app maker Onavo analysed the mapping app usage of 1,00,000 US users and found Waze to be the only app to have benefited significantly from the inaccurate Apple Maps. Of course, this was before Google launched its Maps app for iOS6.

By acquiring Waze, Apple will not only get crucial location-data, but also the real-time driving capability, wherein users can get information about traffic, barricades and other problems on their route.