Is the desktop version tasteless? Tencent Maps PC will be disabled next month, Baidu AutoNavi says it is operating normally

　　The Paper reporter Fan Jia came to Wu Yuxin's intern Jiang Jixuan

　　Tencent Maps stopped the PC-side service and focused more on the mobile terminal.

　　On October 12th, according to Tencent Maps in the web version, the Tencent Maps PC terminal (personal computer terminal) will stop serving on November 11th, and mobile users can download the Tencent Maps App (application) to use.

　　Tencent Maps was renamed from SOSO Maps, a subsidiary of Tencent, in September 2013. Since then, it has entered the Internet map industry "Three Kingdoms Kill". The other two main competitors are Baidu Maps and AutoNavi Maps (under Ali).

According to Tencent Maps official website, at present, Tencent's location service has an average of 110 billion daily location service requests, with 200 million POI data coverage, serving 1 billion users.

　　Public information shows that Tencent has invested a lot of energy in developing the map business: in 2014, Tencent Maps successively invested in professional teams in the field of map surveying and mapping such as Keling Hangrui and NavInfo to obtain the underlying data faster.

On October 15, 2021, Sogou officially announced the completion of the merger with Tencent and became an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent Holdings.

　　On May 15 this year, Sogou Maps announced that it would go offline, shut down all related services, and advised users to download Tencent Maps.

Since then, Tencent Maps has gradually developed and covered nearly 400 cities across the country.

　　However, Tencent entered the map business relatively late. Before 2014, the Internet map market was mainly controlled by Alibaba and Baidu, which may have affected the subsequent development of Tencent Maps.

On October 13, according to the download data of the application treasure, AutoNavi Map and Baidu Map ranked the top two with 2.7 billion times and 2 billion times, respectively, while the download volume of Tencent Map was 200 million times, which was not as good as the first two.

In the iOS App Store free navigation app rankings, Tencent Maps also lags behind AutoNavi and Baidu.

　　An industry insider analyzed to The Paper that the reason why Internet giants attach great importance to the map business is because the role of the map as an entrance is very important.

Data shows that in the life service applications of the mobile Internet, more than 60% of the applications are related to navigation maps.

More and more consumers are accustomed to using mobile phone maps to confirm their geographic location, and then search for nearby life service items.

　　For the reason why Tencent Maps stopped operating on the PC side, people close to Tencent told reporters that it was more out of the consideration of focusing on the mobile terminal.

However, some analysts also interpret it as part of Tencent's non-core business contraction, after Tencent's "cost reduction and efficiency increase" initiative has attracted widespread attention.

Tencent CEO Ma Huateng and President Liu Chiping have repeatedly stated publicly that Tencent has implemented cost control measures and adjusted some non-core businesses, which will help achieve a more optimized cost structure in the future.

　　In the latest second-quarter financial report, Tencent said that it will actively withdraw from non-core businesses in the second quarter of this year, tighten marketing expenses, and cut operating expenses. In the future, it will focus on improving business efficiency and adding new sources of income.

　　It is worth noting that the surging news reporter learned that Tencent has successively launched more than 10 products this year, including the once-popular QQ Hall, Penguin E-sports, Kandian Express, Pocket WeGame, Sogou Maps, Sogou Search App, etc.

　　On July 25 this year, Tencent issued an internal document to adjust the organizational structure and some management cadres of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industry Business Group (CSIG), announcing the establishment of the Map Product Department and the Digital Twin Product Department, and the cancellation of the Smart Space Product Department and the Transportation Platform Product Department.

Based on Tencent's capabilities in location services and maps, the Map Platform Department will further strengthen Tencent's capabilities in underlying construction. The newly established Map Product Department is mainly responsible for Tencent's map and travel services for C-end users.

Based on the layout of Tencent's large transportation travel business, Tencent has combined standard maps, ADAS maps and high-precision maps into one. At present, high-precision maps have covered 380,000 kilometers of highway and urban expressway data across the country, and are accelerating to cover ordinary roads in hundreds of cities across the country. .

　　In terms of personnel, Zhong Xiangping, vice president of Tencent and president of Tencent Smart Transportation and Mobility, no longer serves as the head of the map platform department. Zhang Shaoyu, the general manager of the map platform department, is in charge, and Zhang Zhidong, the former general manager of the map platform department, serves as the head of the map product department; Wan Chao As the general manager of the digital twin product department, they all report to Zhong Xiangping.

　　On July 12, Tencent announced that its taxi-hailing service had been launched in March and has now covered more than 100 cities across the country.

Tencent Travel also provides subsidies to users, of which the maximum discount for new users is two 8 yuan coupons, and the maximum discount for old customers is 5 yuan regular coupons.

The main navigation source of “Tencent Taxi” is also Tencent Map.

　　Although Tencent Maps PC-side services will be discontinued, other map PC-side businesses have not been adjusted.

　　On October 13, Baidu responded to The Paper: "Baidu Map was launched on the PC version in 2005, and is currently operating smoothly and well. At the same time, optimization and upgrades are being promoted as planned." AutoNavi said: "The PC side is operating normally."

　　It is understood that Baidu Maps has been merged into Baidu's intelligent driving business group this year, which includes intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, intelligent transportation, Robotaxi and other businesses.

In Baidu's view, the incorporation of Baidu Maps can synergize with the above-mentioned businesses and exert greater value.

Before the National Day, Baidu Maps announced that it has officially switched to Beidou priority positioning. According to Baidu Maps official website data, its daily average location service requests are 130 billion times, and the number of POIs (information around a certain geographic location) is 180 million.

　　Ali has integrated AutoNavi map into the local life service map, making it one of the basic platforms for connecting travel, hotel, hotel, and e-commerce.

　　In July 2021, in the adjustment of Ali's organizational structure, Local Life, AutoNavi and Fliggy will form a new life service sector, which will be headed by Yu Yongfu, Chairman of AutoNavi.

　　From the outside world, travel is closely related to local life. Fliggy, a local life business and travel service platform represented by Ele.me, needs the blessing of map navigation, and life services are not only door-to-door but also going out, AutoNavi Maps can be a user Life services outside the home.

Judging from Ali's financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 as of June 30, 2022, AutoNavi's average daily active users in June exceeded 120 million.