Nokia has offloaded another one of its businesses by selling HERE, the mapping and navigation service, to a consortium of German auto makers.
The sales and talks between Nokia and the auto companies had been rumored for a long while and now the Finnish company has finally confirmed the gossip. The deal will go through, pending regulatory approval, with Audi, BMW and Daimler paying out €2.8 billion ($3 billion). The auto companies will reportedly be using the newly acquired service for in-car navigation systems and mapping solutions for their clients.
Ever since Nokia sold of its phone business to Microsoft, the company has tried to refocus its efforts on new technologies and revenue streams. Despite HERE being a successful business inside the company, as seen in the recent financial results, where it posted strong profits and growth, it is still being offloaded by its parent corporation.
Nokia seems to be much more focused on telecommunications technologies and infrastructure, a field where the Finnish company is working on 5G deployment.
However, Nokia also recently unveiled a new camera capable of filming in 360-degrees and used to create virtual reality content. Whether that’s just a side project or if the company intends to return to consumer technology remains to be seen in the years to come.