Judging From Apple's Apology, Maps Matter and Nokia Has Maps That Work - Forbes

There have been a hundred jokes about Apple can’t find its way home today as new CEO Tim Cook issued a super apology for the poor performance of Apple’s new mapping software. Apparently, (I am not an iPhone user) the Golden Gate Bridge has moved this week and other national landmarks aren’t where they really are either.  What is shocking is the “super apology” part of the text. 

The closest Steve Jobs came to this situation was when the antennae on earlier phones didn’t work. First there were denials.   Jobs would always come out with his guns blaring. There was no problem, or it was somebody else’s problem or it was a “get over it” problem.  Despite denials, there was a problem and  Jobs found some Motorola radio engineers to come in and fix his problem.

We also surmise that in the Jobs era, a gaffe of this magnitude would have resulted in Jobs railing at whoever was responsible. Heads might have rolled. Or, alternatively, Steve would never have allowed the phone out of beta test until he was sure this wouldn’t happen. We know we have a CEO with a vastly different style of engaging other humans. How else would you explain a “super apology?” In the midst of all this hoopla, Cook suggested that iPhone 5 owners could download other navigational apps onto their phones until Apple could figure it out as it strives for excellence in all it does. 

Five years ago, Nokia acquired Navteq, a Chicago firm that specializes in excellent mapping products.  Nokia wasn’t doing too much right then but it was thinking ahead clearly on the importance of mapping. It foresaw the advantage of excellent mapping technology to sell location based advertising and other services beyong  directions to the user. Navteq was and is pretty state of the art navigation technology. Finally today, the Wall Street Journal seemed to notice that Nokia’s  new Lumia phones come complete with excellent mapping functions designed by Navteq. LUmia is also based on the Microsoft Windows 8 operating system which is just coming to market.  Android phones come with pretty excellent mapping that Apple used until now. So the only laggard on this front now, is Apple.

Just as an anecdotal observation, I happened to pass by the Apple store on Fifth Avenue last Saturday around mid-day. I was surprised that while there were people waiting on a gorgeous fall day, the line was not so robust as I had expected to see. Could the bloom be off  Apple? Is there some saturation of the potential market?  Devotees insist that they love their iPhones but far more Androids are sold now than Apple phones.  

Anecdotally, a member of my family did buy one this week and had it with him the other night.  He had tried the 4S for a few days when it came out and then returned it within the trial period because the battery life was poor.  So far, he is very happy with the 5, mapping excepted, and commented on its speed. Tech studies I have read this week imply that the iPhone 5 has a bench speed on the internet that is two or three times faster than my iPad which is not the latest iteration. One presumes that for the most part, 4G networks aren’t really up and running across the country yet. So if the speeds are noticeably faster before LTE is available for most users, then the difference will be dramatic when they are.

Jobs was the original man with the moat mentality. He wanted to force his customers to overpay for the uniqueness of his products and the closed loop he constructed to use them. I personally find it quite annoying to this day when I want to access something on the internet that is to be delivered using Adobe Flash.  Of course, I get an error message on my iPad which I find most annoying, telling me that my device does not support Flash. Too bad for me that Steve had a vendetta against Adobe. 

This time around the vendetta is against Google. Why should Google get to serve up maps and sell the advertising to those inside the Apple moat?  Steve wanted that business as do all the phone makers. Once they have sold you the phone, that is where they can garner a continuing series of revenues.  This week it seems it’s because Google knows where the  things on the map really are. 

Joan E. Lappin CFA   Gramercy Capital Mgt. Corp.

Mrs. Lappin, Gramercy Capital and its clients own Nokia at this time.

If you are seeking investment help in these turbulent times, contact us at info@gramercycapital.com . Follow Joan on Twitter @joanlappin.