AutoNavi is making its app more like a browser as the race to be the Google Maps of China heats up
May09
The race to conquer mobile mapping in China is getting extremely heated. Earlier this week, China’s largest Internet firm Tencent bought an 11.3 percent stake in Chinese mapping provider NavInfo for CNY1.17 billion ($187 million). The deal could see NavInfo services integrated into WeChat, Tencent’s mobile messaging app which boasts 355 million active users worldwide with most in China. Tencent’s move came only weeks after Alibaba sank $1.15 billion to buy AutoNavi, a larger rival to NavInfo — which in turn came nearly a year to the day that Alibaba first invested in AutoNavi, shelling out $294 million for a 28 percent stake. Amid…
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