OEMS work together when they need to benefit from each other in the trade, but when they learn a way to wean themselves off the dependency they run for it fast. This is the story of Apple and Google. Remember the days when Apple decided to stay away from Google maps as the default navigation maps on iPhones? We all know the mayhem that followed. Apple still maintained development of their maps, but Google maps update was allowed in so users can make use of it to avoid further embarrassment.
Google recently acquired Waze for a billion US Dollars, location based services is big business, and if it hasn’t hit your region it’s just about to, maybe you now know where to invest your skills, huh?
Now Apple has pulled a similar move by acquiring a startup by Nigerian Chinedu Echeruo, Hopstop.com. Chinedu has schooled both in Nigeria and the US where he created the startup Hopstop, a location based service that is focused on finding transit directions for subways and bus stops. Makes quite a lot of sense for them to acquire an app that is already accepted and has a user-base, is location based and a very promising business model, all the while having them safe from the googley monster.
The startup which was founded in year 2005 already covers some 300 cities and has an app both on Android and iOS. These are the things big spenders are paying top dollar for. A sustainable user-base backed by a great business model that is replicable everywhere. Now Hopstop is already replicated to 300 cities around the world including down south in Australia and New Zealand, while at the same time maintaining the largest user-base and cities coverage in the US. How many people do you know create apps for New Zealand?
No figures have been disclosed however of the acquisition.
Source: CP-Africa
