Just a couple of weeks ago, we heard reports that Nokia was planning to sell their mapping division (HERE Maps) and that both Apple, Facebook and the german car consortium. In that report, Reuters said that Nokia was looking to get about 3.2 billion euros out of the sale of it's HERE maps division and they are expected to announce an acquisition in the coming weeks ahead.

Building upon that initial report, today NYT is reporting that Uber which was mentioned earlier has indeed placed a bid of 3 billion for Nokia's HERE Maps. If you're not familiar, Uber is a network of drivers which offers customers a more personal commute experience.

Why would Uber be interested in HERE maps? Well, Nokia's mapping platform is controlling nearly 80% of the global market share for in-car navigation systems. Uber's acquisition of HERE maps might not give them instant incentives but in the long run they'll be able to integrate the ingenuity of HERE maps on to their Uber app and thus making them a viable competition to Google Maps.

“Mapping data is an important long-term asset for the auto industry,” said Jeremy Carlson, an analyst at IHS Automotive, in Los Angeles. “It makes sense that they would want to protect it.”

SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES