“At the 2015 WWDC Apple stated that it receives 5 billion requests per week for its maps service,” Horace Dediu writes for Asymco. “It also said that Apple maps is used 3.5 times more frequently than ‘the next leading maps app’ …We need to assume that the ‘next leading maps app’ is Google Maps.”

“This means that the 3.5:1 split in usage results in a 78% share for Apple Maps and a 22% share for Google,” Dediu writes. “If we assume that there are about 400 million iOS users of maps, it leads to about 90 million Google Maps users on iOS and about 310 million Apple Maps users on iOS. This includes iPad.”

“So the question of where maps are going depends on the business model for maps. In a world where maps are sustained by device value, 300 million users makes it sustainable. In a world where maps are sustained by advertising, 1 billion users makes it sustainable. What else is there?” Dediu writes. “How about a world where maps are sustained by transportation services?”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s Maps are much improved, but the company has an awful lot of work to do to over come a horrid, self-inflicted first impression. If only someone had thought to simply say, “Label it ‘beta'” at launch, it wouldn’t have immediately dug itself a hole out of which it will never be able climb in the “minds” of far too many simpletons.

Label it “beta.” Imagine, three simple words and you’re likely still building the future instead of humming broadway show tunes.

SEE ALSO:

Apple: We’re driving vehicles around the world to collect data for Apple Maps – June 10, 2015
Apple Maps will become available cross-platform via the Web, job listing reveals – June 3, 2015
Apple drops Google Maps for Apple Maps on iCloud.com – December 9, 2014