When Apple launched Apple Maps, it was a bit of a disaster. At the time, the app and service did not work as intended, and actually led drivers down the wrong roads. It was so bad that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was forced to issue an apology and even recommended users use a different service until they could work the bugs out.
Since then, Apple has improved on its Maps service, but it seems that it came at quite a cost. In a response to questions from the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee as part of an ongoing antitrust probe, it was revealed that Apple actually spent billions on Apple Maps. Apple had previously hinted that the service had cost the company a lot of money, and now it has been revealed to have cost billions of dollars.
Exactly how many billions it cost Apple to launch Apple Maps and build the system from scratch, and as well as the fixes and revamps that followed, is unclear, but it sounds like it was a lot of money. At least Apple Maps today has come a very long way from what it was t first.
It even has features that could potentially rival Google Maps, like indoor mapping and Look Around, which is similar to Google’s Street View.
Source Ubergizmo