Though the title of the article sounds insane and probably is insane, all deductive reasoning points me to the same conclusion - Apple Maps is a Mega Success.
Is Apple Maps the best navigation app in the World? No
Is Apple Maps the most used navigation app? No
Does Apple Maps always offer the best route to your destination? No
But..
Did Apple Maps stop Google from using Google Maps to their competitive advantage?
Hell yeah!
Think of the most important secondary functions of your phone besides calling. Among many other things, your phone is your alarm, your phone is your contact book, your phone allows you to capture great memories, your phone allows you to stay connected with your friends and family, and your phone acts as a guide to navigate you around places!
A purchase decision of a new phone is hinged on doing above tasks effortlessly. Absence of any of these features makes the phone a dawdler in your next mobile consideration list.
Google knows this:
Let's go on a time travel to 2011 and understand the competitive landscape of Mobile Operating Systems. Android is gaining momentum, iOS's market share is dropping, HP gave up on Palm OS, and Microsoft has almost given up on Windows for Mobile. iOS and Android have emerged as a duopoly in the industry. At this time, Google had celebrated Android's momentum and was thinking of extending the platform beyond Mobile. The competition is extremely fierce. And Google launched turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps on Android. Not on iOS. By delaying turn-by-turn navigation feature on iOS for more than 2 years, Google started using Maps to its competitive advantage in an effort to lure users away from iOS to Android.
Steve Jobs and Apple knew it even before:
Here's what Tim Cook says the most valuable lessons are that he received from Steve Jobs:
Never think what Steve Jobs would do, do what's right
Always focus on creating the best, not the most
Own the customer experience in total, end-to-end
Always control the primary technologies of a product
Given Maps & Navigation is one of the many functions that is extremely important for a mobile, controlling this is paramount for Apple.
Apple maps when launched was an epic failure. Tim Cook had to issue an apology and Scott Forstall (the then iOS Chief) was shown the door.
But, Within 6 months of Apple launching Apple Maps, Google released a version of Google Maps with turn-by-turn directions in iOS. Apple Maps launched 10 years ago and Google, till date had never launched a major feature in Google Maps in Android before they released it on iOS. Both Operating Systems started getting the same priority.
Google knows that user data is of extreme importance for apps like Maps that rely heavily on crowd sourced data and pulling out of iOS is Google's loss more than Apple's given:
Apple Maps will improve with more users using it in absence of Google Maps
Leaving product improvements aside, iOS users are too valuable to lose from an advertising standpoint (See Search deal)
Apple Maps as a product may not be as successful as Apple's other products are but Apple Maps as a strategy sure is a mega success!