Nokia's HERE maps is finally available for Android, kicking off with Samsung Galaxy phones
Nokia has launched a beta version of its HERE maps and navigation app in the Samsung Galaxy Apps store, giving the smartphone maker a viable alternative to the wildly popular Google Maps.
Context & Ripple Effects
This beta lands on schedule: Nokia announced in August that HERE would come to Android exclusively through Samsung's Galaxy Apps store, and the rollout now puts offline-capable navigation into Galaxy owners' hands. It is also a second attempt at cross-platform reach — HERE launched for iOS back in November 2012 before Nokia pulled it from the App Store in December 2013, blaming iOS 7, then extended to all Windows 8.1 devices in February 2014.
First-order effects
- Samsung Galaxy owners get a working alternative to Google Maps, with the offline access that has been HERE's signature since the August announcement.
- Nokia gains a distribution channel on Android without going through Google Play — the Samsung Galaxy Apps store carries the beta instead.
Second-order effects
- With Android holding a record 85% smartphone share as of Q2, a credible non-Google map app on flagship Galaxy hardware pressures Google Maps' default position for the first time on its own platform.
- Samsung gets a differentiator against other Android OEMs: exclusive access to a major navigation app gives Galaxy buyers something stock Android elsewhere does not have.
Third-order effects
- If exclusivity proves commercially viable, handset makers will keep negotiating their own app-store content apart from the OS vendor — mapping becomes a per-manufacturer bargaining chip rather than a bundled OS service.
- For Nokia, the pattern points toward selling its location platform to whichever ecosystem pays, having now tried iOS, Windows, and Android within two years.
The trend: Navigation apps are decoupling from operating systems, with handset manufacturers like Samsung brokering exclusive distribution deals that let map providers such as Nokia reach rival platforms.