2023 Map Industry Research Report

Chapter 1 Industry Overview

The map industry is a fast-growing and critical field of information technology that provides users with applications such as navigation, location services, geographic information systems, and map data analysis by collecting, processing, and visualizing geographic information. The development of the map industry has benefited from the advancement of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and the popularity of mobile devices, making maps indispensable in our daily lives.

The market size of the map industry continues to expand. With the popularity of smartphones and the application of car navigation systems, the demand for map data and location services is increasing. According to market research, the global market size of the map industry is expected to continue growing, driving innovation and competition in the industry.

Key players in the industry include map providers, technology developers, and geographic information system (GIS) solution providers, among others. Well-known map providers include Google Maps, Apple Maps, Baidu Maps, and Gaode Maps, among others. These companies have attracted the attention of a large number of users and businesses by continuously updating map data, providing navigation functions, and improving user experience.

The map industry has a wide range of applications in many fields. In the field of transportation and logistics, the map industry provides real-time traffic information and route planning to help drivers choose the best route and avoid congestion. In the travel and hospitality industry, map applications provide locations and directions of tourist attractions to help tourists better plan their trips. In the field of marketing and advertising, the map industry provides targeted advertising and location-related marketing strategies for businesses through geolocation technology. In terms of urban management and environmental planning, the map industry supports urban planning and resource allocation to promote sustainable urban development.

Figure: Industrial chain status of electronic map and high-precision map

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Haitong Securities

The domestic navigation electronic map market has entered a period of rapid growth since 2003, and the navigation electronic map market was extremely active in 2005. After entering 2006, the sales growth of various enterprises is very obvious. In 2021, the domestic online map service market will reach 8.314 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.65%.

Figure: Statistics of China's Online Map Service Market Size, 2013-2021

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Research Network

In the new round of map wars, BATs with AI core technology are more than capable, while traditional map vendors are struggling. The core reason is that smart maps are driven by AI technology, and the human-intensive map data production model is no longer applicable. Take high-precision maps as an example. In the 5G era, applications such as autonomous driving, intelligent transportation, and intelligent car linkages have exploded. Maps are rare.

Smart maps have become the focus of a new round of competition. New trends such as 5G, AI, IoT, and unmanned vehicles have brought new development opportunities to the map industry, but the threshold for the map industry has also become much higher. In the new round of map wars, BATs with AI core technology are more than capable, while traditional map vendors are struggling. The core reason is that smart maps are driven by AI technology, and the human-intensive map data production model is no longer applicable. Take high-precision maps as an example. In the 5G era, applications such as autonomous driving, intelligent transportation, and intelligent car linkages have exploded. Maps are rare.

The amount of information collection and processing of high-precision maps is much larger than that of ordinary maps. It needs to be collected by data collection vehicles equipped with lidar, and it needs to apply AI technologies such as machine vision to intelligently analyze the data. For traditional map vendors facing the pressure of performance growth, it is very difficult to really do a good job in smart maps. If smart maps are not done well, Internet map players will be left behind in terms of data production efficiency and coverage capabilities. At the same time, due to shortcomings in high-precision maps and other services, it is difficult to meet the map service needs of various industries in the smart age.

Figure: 2021-2026 my country's high-precision map industry market size forecast (unit: 100 million yuan)

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

The mapping industry faces a range of challenges and opportunities. Data privacy and security are common concerns of users and enterprises. The map industry needs to strengthen data protection measures and transparency to ensure the security of users' personal information. At the same time, the map industry is also facing the challenges of increasing map data volume and data update, which requires efficient data collection, integration and update mechanisms. Emerging markets and geographic regions offer opportunities for growth, especially the rapid urbanization and digital transformation in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The map industry plays an important role in continuous innovation and development. With the advancement of technology and the continuous evolution of user needs, the map industry will continue to promote the further development of navigation, location services and geographic information analysis, providing users and enterprises with more accurate, intelligent and personalized map experience.

Chapter 2 Business Model and Technology Development

2.1 Industry chain

The map industry chain includes upstream basic geographic information surveying and mapping providers and POI (Point of Interest) data suppliers, midstream navigation electronic map manufacturers and navigation electronic map software, system solution suppliers, and downstream B-end consumers and C-end consumers , B-end consumers mainly include terminal equipment manufacturers, such as vehicle manufacturers, car navigation equipment manufacturers, smartphone manufacturers, etc., and C-end consumers are end users.

Figure: Overview of the industrial chain

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Guanyan Tianxia

upstream

The upstream map market players include national basic geographic information surveying and mapping companies and POI data suppliers.

Policies strictly restrict and supervise the surveying and mapping of electronic navigation maps. As of February 2020, only 22 enterprises and institutions have obtained the first-class surveying and mapping qualifications for producing electronic navigation maps. Produced in 22 enterprises and institutions.

Compared with electronic map surveying and mapping, my country currently does not have too many restrictions on the qualifications of POI data suppliers. POI data suppliers can be navigation electronic map manufacturers, online map manufacturers or other Internet companies, and POI data can be obtained through transactions. . POI is used in the geographic information system to mark specific places, such as a store, gas station, bank, hospital, restaurant and other place information. Residents usually travel with POI as their destination. The more complete the POI information points on the map, the better they can meet the needs of users for using navigation electronic maps. POI data will become an important point of contention and an exploreable profit model for navigation electronic map manufacturers in the future.

Figure POI data provider

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

middle reaches

The midstream market players in the navigation electronic map industry are navigation electronic map manufacturers and navigation electronic map software application and system solution suppliers. Due to the strict entry barriers in the production of navigation electronic maps, the concentration of the midstream market is relatively high. Among the 22 companies that have obtained the first-class surveying and mapping qualification for navigation electronic map production issued by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, the National Basic Geographic Information Center, Jiangsu Provincial Surveying and Mapping Engineering Institute, Zhejiang First Surveying and Mapping Institute, and Jiangsu Provincial Basic Geographic Information Center are mainly 4 institutions In addition to undertaking the national navigation electronic map business, it basically does not carry out commercial operations of navigation electronic maps.

Figure: Institutions responsible for undertaking the national navigation electronic map business

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

At present, the navigation electronic map industry has entered the stage of oligopoly, and NavInfo, AutoNavi and Baidu have become industry leaders, and have realized diversified business operations around navigation map resources, such as providing map data, navigation software, and location big data services and autonomous driving overall solution services, etc. Due to the general diversification of business operations of enterprises with navigation electronic map production qualifications and involved in commercial operations, the development of enterprises without qualifications in the industry is basically limited. The corresponding navigation electronic map software applications and system solution suppliers are basically the three leading companies in the industry. (NavInfo, AutoNavi, Baidu).

downstream

The downstream market entities of the map are B-end consumers and C-end final consumers. B-end consumers include vehicle manufacturers, car navigation system manufacturers, consumer electronics navigation equipment manufacturers, smartphone manufacturers, mobile communication operators and Internet companies.

Navigation electronic map manufacturers directly provide navigation electronic map services to downstream B-end consumers and charge corresponding fees. Fees for pre-installed in-vehicle navigation products are the main source of income for manufacturers of navigation electronic maps. Therefore, navigation electronic map manufacturers often use strategic cooperation agreements with vehicle manufacturers to ensure stable income.

2.2 Business model

The evolution of the map business model can be roughly divided into four stages, and its business model is a process of expansion and superposition rather than an iterative process.

Figure: Evolution of Map Industry Business Model

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Huaxi Securities

Stage 1: Electronic navigation map sales

Cooperate with terminal equipment manufacturers and charge according to sales volume. In the initial stage of the development of the map industry, car navigation and consumer electronic navigation are the main sources of income for map manufacturers.

Figure: Electronic Map Industry Chain

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank NavInfo New Prospectus

Phase 2: Internet vendors enter the market, advertising + traffic entry mode

Internet manufacturers open and free mobile apps, use apps to create traffic portals, and charge advertising fees. In August 2013, Baidu Navigation and Gaode Map successively announced that they would be permanently free, bringing domestic navigation apps into a free era. The map APP has become a super traffic portal, and Internet map merchants use it to monetize traffic:

(1) Advertising fee: Provide services such as search sorting, labeling point merchants, and selection of local merchants for offline merchants;

(2) Aggregate O2O services and collect value-added service fees: For example, AutoNavi provides aggregated taxi-hailing services (cooperating with Didi, Shouqi Car-Hailing, Caocao Travel, etc.), business travel and hotel services (cooperating with Fliggy, etc.), movie shopping services, etc. Ticketing service (cooperation with Taopiaopiao, etc.), etc., to attract traffic for third-party platforms, and charge value-added service fees for each transaction.

Phase 3: Create an open platform and increase LBS services

With the penetration of the mobile Internet, the O2O model has exploded, and mobile maps have become an important platform for the development of O2O; the integration of online and offline scenes has become increasingly close, and the demand for map data has exploded.

Based on map data, map manufacturers cooperate with developers and enterprises to formulate solutions that include data such as maps and locations, and provide map business authorization and SDK/API services to enterprises that need to embed maps in APP/small programs, and charge for authorization services fee.

Figure: Mobile map has become an important platform for O2O development

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Foresight Industry Research Institute

Baidu Maps provides four levels of paid products to enterprise customers and developers. SDK and API products are mainly charged according to the number of calls, and industry solutions are charged according to the plan:

Mobile terminal: In addition to providing developers with a basic free SDK, the map panorama SDK and overseas SDK are charged according to the number of service calls, and the truck navigation SDK is charged according to the activation authorization.
Web server products: Open 24 standard service API authorizations for enterprises, with a free quota for the number of calls, and charge according to the quota after the number of calls is exceeded.
Web-side products: maps, subway maps, locations, etc. are free, and panoramas are charged according to the number of calls.
Solutions: Including car data/logistics/scenic spots/online car-hailing/smart wear and other solutions, charged according to the sales plan.

Figure: Taking Baidu Maps LBS service as an example

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Baidu Map Open Platform

Phase 4: map refinement, real-time, spawn subscription model

In the future, maps need to be more refined and real-time, and the business model will move towards cloudification/annual fee model.

High-precision maps are an important part of future car intelligence and autonomous driving. The emergence of advanced driver assistance systems has put forward new requirements for map accuracy and real-time performance. It includes road shape, size and number of curves, number of lanes and many other data. The profit model has changed from the previous use right sale to map update cloud service + use right, and the business model is moving towards subscription.

Figure: High-precision map multi-dimensional information

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank Huaxi Securities

The integration of high-precision maps and automatic driving systems requires high replacement costs and user stickiness. High-precision maps involve decision-making and will be deeply integrated with the automatic driving system. Different map manufacturers have different data formats, standards, and accuracy. If a car manufacturer needs to replace a map provider, it must adjust or even rewrite the algorithm, which will increase migration costs. It is speculated that in the future map manufacturers will be deeply bound to car factory customers and have high user stickiness.

The service model of map merchants will move towards cloudification, and the cost will be passed on to end users. Since the high-precision map needs to be constantly updated, it is expected to be packaged and bound with the autonomous driving software. The business model has changed to charging end users with SaaS annual fees to open up profit margins. Huawei is building a national high-precision dynamic map aggregation platform to provide customers with services such as storage and application compliance, autonomous driving application support, dynamic map data distribution, and map data security.

Table: Profitability of Traditional Maps and HD Maps

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

2.3 Technology Development

The technological development and innovation of the map industry continue to promote the progress and transformation of the industry. In the future, we can foresee the following key technological development trends:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning: AI and machine learning technologies will play an important role in the mapping industry. By analyzing big data and historical user behavior, map applications can provide personalized navigation and location services, predict traffic conditions, and provide users with more accurate map data and navigation suggestions.
Mixed Reality: The development of mixed reality technology will bring new interactive methods and user experience to the map industry. By combining the virtual and real worlds, users can interact with the map through wearable devices or smartphones and get real-time geographic information, navigation guidance and enhanced visual effects.
Blockchain technology: The application of blockchain technology will enhance the data credibility and security of the map industry. Through decentralized data storage and encryption technology, map data can be stored, transmitted and shared more securely, and users can better control the privacy of their location data.
Autonomous driving technology: The development of autonomous driving technology will further promote innovation in the map industry. High-precision maps and real-time traffic data will become the key support for autonomous driving vehicles. The map industry will continue to improve the accuracy and update frequency of maps to meet the high requirements of autonomous driving systems for geographic information.
Wireless communication technology: With the popularization of 5G and Internet of Things technologies, the map industry will be able to transmit and receive map data faster and more reliably. This will promote the development of real-time navigation and location services, providing users with more accurate and timely map information.

These technological developments and innovations will further improve the functionality, usability and user experience of the map industry, provide users with more intelligent, convenient and personalized map services, and push the map industry to new heights.

2.4 Policy Supervision

In China, the national and local natural resources departments are the main regulators of the industry. China Society of Surveying and Mapping, China Geographic Information Industry Association, China Survey and Design Association, etc. are self-regulatory organizations in this industry.

The legal and policy environment of the map industry plays an important guiding and normative role in its development. With the continuous evolution of technology and the wide application of map applications, the government and related agencies have gradually formulated a series of regulations and policies to manage and supervise the map industry.

Data Privacy and Security: With mapping applications collecting and processing large amounts of location data, privacy and security are at the forefront of regulatory and policy concerns. Government agencies have enacted regulations requiring map providers to protect users' privacy and ensure the secure storage and transmission of map data.
Geographic information management: The government manages and regulates geographic information to ensure the accuracy and reliability of map data. Map providers need to comply with relevant regulations, including requirements for geographic information collection, processing, updating and sharing.
Electronic navigation and traffic rules: Map navigation has a close relationship with traffic rules. Government agencies have issued regulations requiring map apps to obey traffic rules when providing navigation services to ensure the safety of users and the smooth flow of road traffic.
Map standards and specifications: To ensure interoperability and consistency between different map applications, governments and standardization organizations develop map standards and specifications. These standards and specifications include map data format, coordinate system, legend symbols, etc., to promote the intercommunication and sharing of map data.
Opening and sharing of map data: In order to promote innovation and social benefits, some government agencies encourage the opening and sharing of map data. Map providers can open some map data to the public and developers by complying with relevant policies and licensing mechanisms to promote innovation and development of the map industry.

These regulations and policy environments provide a framework and guidance for the standardized development of the map industry. Map providers need to pay close attention to and comply with these regulations and policy requirements to ensure the compliance and sustainable development of their business. At the same time, the government and relevant institutions should continue to pay attention to the development of the map industry, revise and improve relevant laws and policies in a timely manner to adapt to technological progress and changes in market demand.

Chapter 3 Industry Valuation, Pricing Mechanism and Global Leading Enterprises

3.1 Industry data analysis and valuation methods

Market saturation of the map industry

According to public information, since the National Bureau of Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information (then known as the National Bureau of Surveying and Mapping) issued the country's first navigation electronic map production qualification in 2001, JD.com is the 22nd company to obtain the above-mentioned qualification. Before that, a total of Siwei Tuxin, Gaode, Lingtu, Changdi Wanfang, Kay Rucker, Yitutong, National Basic Geographic Information Center, Lide Space, Tencent Daditongtu, Jiangsu Surveying and Mapping Engineering Institute, Zhejiang First Surveying and Mapping Institute, Jiangsu Provincial Basic Geographic Information 21 units, including Center, Wuhan Guangting, Didu Technology, Wuhan Zhonghaiting, Guizhou Kuandeng, Beijing Chusuu, Jiangsu Jingzhong, Jiangsu Zhitu, Huawei, and SF Express, have obtained this qualification.

Factors Affecting the Market Size of the Map Industry

It is estimated that the market size of the map industry in the future will increase from 15.2 billion yuan in 2022 to 21.7 billion yuan. The main factors affecting the market size of the industry are the innovation of industry products and the expansion of application fields.

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

In terms of industrial structure, my country's map products continue to improve. The development of my country's map industry needs to be strengthened and improved from the three levels of the country, enterprises and users. At the national level, it is necessary to create a better industrial policy environment, increase support for R&D and innovation, strengthen the construction of professional map talents, increase the cultivation and support of key enterprises, and encourage them to actively participate in international competition; at the enterprise level , it is necessary to strengthen R&D, innovation and industrialization of key technologies and products, attach importance to and develop professional map services, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with universities and research institutes; Give priority to supporting independent map products and services.

Market Structure Analysis

In the market structure of the map industry, service packaging accounts for a prominent proportion, ranking first, accounting for 28.4%; raw material processing ranks second, accounting for 25.3%; product research and development ranks third, accounting for 19.2%, and installation and construction ranks fourth, accounting for 13%.

Source: Asset Information Network Qianji Investment Bank

The map industry has a large number of people covered, a high proportion of services and service users, a huge market size, a shortage of market sales, a sharp increase in the total number of services, and an extremely high compound growth rate. The market size and demand are very large.

The valuation method of the map industry can choose price-earnings ratio valuation method, PEG valuation method, price-to-book ratio valuation method, price-to-cash ratio, P/S market-to-sales ratio valuation method, EV/Sales market-to-sales ratio valuation method, and RNAV valuation method. Net asset valuation method, EV/EBITDA valuation method, DDM valuation method, DCF discounted cash flow valuation method, NAV net asset value valuation method, etc.

Figure: NavInfo’s main business

Figure: Main Business of SuperMap Software

Source: Qianji Investment Bank iFinD

3.2 Industry Development and Driving Factors

Comparison of the development of map industry at home and abroad

In comparison, foreign map models are mature and focus on corporate value and income, and domestic counterparts have a huge market space to increase online sales. Most of the domestic and foreign map companies are companies with commercial prospects, and they are committed to providing them with resources that were lacking in the early stages of growth to assist companies in achieving rapid growth in business value. From three aspects of industry development stage, market space, and industry channels, a comparative analysis of domestic and foreign industry maps and industry patterns is carried out. The map industry refers to the collection of all supporting supporting enterprises that take map products as business objects. Including map brand operation, map R&D and design, map manufacturing, map logistics and transportation, map retail and other sub-sectors. There are three main differences:

Industry development stage: Mature markets have advanced business models with a high degree of concentration, and the industrial structure of the domestic map industry needs to be upgraded. Developed countries rely on the mature business model of "brand + channel" to occupy the high value-added link of the map industry chain. my country's map manufacturing technology is mature and the export volume is large, but the overall industry is large but not strong, and the enterprises are small and scattered.
Market space: The sales volume of the map industry in Europe and the United States tends to be stable, but the growth rate is slow. With the gradual improvement of urbanization and the popularization of the Internet in my country, the market space is huge.
Industry channels: The most mature U.S. market is still dominated by brand sales, while various domestic channels are complicated, and some rely on subsidies and revenue.

industry drivers

(1) Policy factors: In recent years, the country has gradually relaxed policy restrictions on the development of the map industry. The development of the map industry has attracted more and more attention. However, the map industry involves state secrets, and policy barriers have blocked various foreign map companies from the door, creating opportunities for the stable development of Chinese high-precision map companies. In the future, high-precision maps are expected to The industry is expected to develop rapidly, laying a solid foundation for the development of driverless cars in China. By 2020, the high-precision map market will be 12 billion yuan, and by 2025 it will reach 60 billion yuan.

(2) Downstream demand: In recent years, the demand for intelligent transformation of government enterprises and industry users has soared. The service format of "location service +" is developing rapidly, and the country is accelerating the drive of digital transformation. Industry organizations, government departments, and public institutions have increasingly emerging demands for intelligent transformation in the fields of environmental protection monitoring, intelligent transportation, smart cities, modern logistics, and finance. Intelligent solutions based on location big data have increased market development space. Business application analysis based on user location big data has been widely used in many fields such as public location life scene reproduction, user portrait description, business operation guidance and analysis, etc.

(3) Complete supporting industrial policies: Since the rise of the electronic navigation map industry, national policies have continuously accelerated the improvement of policy guidelines for the electronic navigation map industry, accelerated the formulation of industrial policies and technical standards, and successively formed the "Navigation Geographic Data Model and Exchange Format". "Technical Regulations for Acquisition and Processing of Geographical Data for Vehicle Navigation", "Basic Requirements for Security Processing Technology of Electronic Maps for Navigation", "Data Quality Specifications for Electronic Maps for Vehicle Navigation", "Data Quality Specifications for Personal Location Navigation Electronic Maps", "Storage Formats for Personal Location Navigation Electronic Maps" A series of policy norms and industry technical standards. The gradual establishment of supporting policies and systems will promote the healthy and stable development of the navigation electronic map industry.

(4) The rise of the field of autonomous driving: High-precision maps are the key link to realize the application of autonomous driving. Accurate maps play a key role in the positioning, navigation and control of autonomous vehicles and real-time update of data. The distance, roadblocks and other information are highly dependent, and more accurate position feedback information is required to ensure the safe driving of autonomous vehicles.

According to the classification of the American Society of Automotive Engineers, autonomous driving can generally be divided into six stages from L0 to L5 according to the degree of intelligence. Among them, autonomous driving at L3 and above must use high-precision maps. Different intelligence levels have different requirements for the accuracy of map data. Different, in the artificial driving stage with the lowest degree of intelligence, the accuracy of map data is about 10 meters. At the stage of L5 fully automatic driving, the data accuracy of the map needs to reach 10 cm to 30 cm.

3.3 Industry risk analysis and risk management

(1) Weak profitability

my country's navigation electronic map manufacturers are relatively weak in profitability, generally highly dependent on a single car navigation product market, and it is difficult to guarantee the positive operational needs of navigation electronic map companies. Navigation electronic map manufacturers need to change from the current role of traditional, single data producers to navigation map service providers that can provide three-dimensional and personalized information, enhance corporate profitability, support the expansion of operating scale, and promote the development of the industry.

(2) Commercial liquidity is weak

Since mobile phone navigation and automotive consumer electronic navigation products are basically provided free of charge, the commercial realization ability of my country's navigation electronic map industry is relatively weak. With the deepening of the popularity of navigation electronic maps in social life, the accumulated user traffic of map applications continues to grow, and the monetization of traffic (such as advertisements, business recommendations on maps, etc.) has become an important source of income for map merchants. However, the cost of map data collection is relatively high, and the map service fees charged by car manufacturers for ordinary car navigation map services are relatively low (generally 20-40 yuan per car per year), and it is difficult to further increase user traffic. It is always difficult to make a substantial improvement, and the navigation electronic map business of many map providers in the industry (such as AutoNavi Maps, Baidu Maps, etc.) is still in a state of loss.

(3) Strict policy supervision

The navigation electronic map industry involves state secrets, and the state attaches great importance to it. The policy sets a high entry threshold for this industry. China's surveying and mapping authorities adopt industry access qualifications to manage enterprises engaged in the development and production of navigation electronic maps. Among them, the standards for the production of navigation electronic maps are relatively strict, and it is difficult for enterprises to easily achieve them.

(4) Fast infrastructure update

my country is still in a period of rapid development, and urban and rural roads and infrastructure construction are changing with each passing day. The change rate of road construction in important cities is as high as 30%. The update frequency of traditional navigation electronic maps twice a year obviously cannot keep up with the speed of infrastructure changes. After a long period of approval, the navigation electronic map may appear months or even weeks after the release, and some map data may not match the actual road conditions. The data collection cost of navigation electronic map is relatively high, and the frequently changing infrastructure greatly increases the data collection expenditure of navigation electronic map manufacturers, which is not conducive to the improvement of profitability of navigation electronic map manufacturers, and puts great pressure on the normal operation of enterprises.

(5) The industrial chain cooperation framework has not yet been formed

At this stage, the production of my country's navigation electronic maps is basically completed by enterprises alone, and each map manufacturer collects geographic data information independently. The information resources are not connected to each other, resulting in repeated investment in manpower and material resources, and the output content of the entire industry basically overlaps. In addition, the state and local government departments at all levels are in charge of a large amount of public transportation information and infrastructure construction information, such as real-time traffic information, municipal road construction planning, etc., and information resources are not open to map merchants, resulting in low utilization of public information resources. The lack of an industrial chain cooperation framework prevents resources from being fully integrated, making it difficult to improve the speed and frequency of updating navigation electronic map data.

3.4 Competitive Analysis - Using PEST Analysis

(1) Policy factors: The "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Map Industry Development" issued by the central government clearly requires that the map industry will increase by 30% by 2020, and various localities have introduced local policies to increase industry penetration.

(2) Social factors: The market threshold of the traditional map industry is low, the lack of a unified industry standard service process, and the lack of professional supervision affect the development of the industry. The combination of the Internet and maps reduces intermediate links and provides users with cost-effective services. At the same time, the post-90s and post-00s groups have gradually become the main consumers in the map industry.

(3) Economic factors: The map industry continues to demand, and hot capital is good for the long-term development of the map industry. The scale of transactions in the downstream industry increased, providing new impetus for the development of the map industry. At the same time, with the improvement of residents' consumption level, this also provides an economic basis for the market demand of the map industry.

(4) Technical factors: Technology empowers artificial intelligence, big data cloud computing, VR, 5G, etc. to gradually transition from first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities, and realize the popularization of technological experience in the map industry. At the same time, the map industry has introduced ERP, OA and other systems to optimize the construction process of information management and improve the efficiency of the industry.

3.5 Important participating companies

Major Chinese companies include NavInfo [002405.SZ], Yihualu [300212.SZ], Zhenxin Technology [300101.SZ], SuperMap Software [300036.SZ], Meiyan Jixiang [600868.SH], BIT [300053.SZ], Aerospace Changfeng [600855.SH], Hezhong Strong [002383.SZ], China Hi-Target [300177.SZ], Huali Chuangtong [300045.SZ], etc.

Source: Qianji Investment Bank iFinD

From a global perspective, according to the latest version of the location platform effectiveness scorecard report released by Counterpoint on January 2, 2023, the top three are here, tomtom and Google. The report analyzes more than 30 leading map and location platform vendors using Counterpoint's proprietary CORE (Competitive Ranking Evaluation) framework. This comprehensive and detailed assessment is based on more than 65 key capabilities spanning seven categories - map data, location intelligence, location services, data platforms, developer ecosystem, partners, and customers since the last update The roster grows.

Chapter 4 Future Outlook

The future development of the map industry shows the following key trends:

Intelligent and personalized navigation: With the advancement of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, map navigation will become more intelligent and personalized. Based on the user's historical data and preferences, the map application will be able to provide more accurate and personalized navigation routes and suggestions. For example, combined with real-time traffic data and user preferences, map applications can provide optimal travel times and route planning to avoid congestion and improve efficiency.
Comprehensive maps that integrate multiple data sources: Future maps will integrate multiple data sources, including sensor data, social media data, real-time environmental data, etc., to provide richer and more comprehensive geographic information. This will enable users to obtain more levels of map data, such as traffic conditions, weather conditions, surrounding facilities, etc., to provide a more comprehensive reference for their decision-making.
Breakthrough in indoor positioning and navigation: Indoor positioning and navigation are important directions for the map industry in the future. By combining indoor positioning technologies (such as Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth beacons, and indoor maps) with augmented reality technology, map applications can provide accurate indoor positioning and navigation services, helping users navigate in complex environments such as large shopping malls, airports, and hospitals. Find your destination easily.
Application of blockchain technology in the map industry: Blockchain technology can bring higher data credibility and security to the map industry. By using decentralized blockchain technology, the map industry can ensure the integrity and reliability of map data and provide users with greater control over their own location data. In addition, blockchain technology can also promote the sharing and exchange of map data, thereby promoting collaboration and innovation in the industry.
Sustainability and social responsibility: The map industry is increasingly emphasizing sustainability and social responsibility. As concerns about environmental impact continue to grow, the mapping industry will strive to reduce energy consumption, optimize route planning to reduce emissions, and provide more public transportation, cycling and walking navigation options to promote sustainable mobility and urban development.

Driven by technological progress and user needs, the map industry will continue to usher in innovation and development. Intelligent navigation, fusion of multiple data sources, breakthroughs in indoor positioning, application of blockchain technology, sustainable development and social responsibility will be the key directions for the future development of the map industry. These trends will provide users with smarter, more convenient, and more accurate map services, helping people better explore the world, plan travel, and achieve sustainable development goals.

Cover Photo by T.H. Chia on Unsplash

2023 Map Industry Research Report

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