Recently, the Chinese company AutoNavi Software Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes following the withdrawal of a few heavy-weight names such as Jack Ma, Hou Jun, and Cheng Congwu from being the shareholders of the company. AutoNavi was established in 2001, and the paid-in capital is 80 million yuan. Hangzhou Baoxuan Investment Management Co., Ltd. continues to be the sole major shareholder of the company, with 62.2642% of the shares.
AutoNavi was the leading mobile map service provider in China, and the company’s success dates back to 2014. Back then, the company owned a 31.3 % share of the navigation market. The biggest rival, in this aspect, of the company was Baidu Inc. which owned 26.6 percent of the market share.
AutoNavi’s success also comes because of the fact that the company managed to secure huge deals with the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers. The company provides map software for Samsung Electronics, China Mobile Ltd, and Google Inc. The company did undergo a few leadership changes as, in 2014, another leading company of China, Alibaba, which was already holding 28% share of AutoNavi, offered to buy the company so that the company could be better equipped with the assets necessary to compete with its major rivals in China, such as Tencent Holdings Ltd, and Baidu. This company had managed to exponentially increase its growth by tapping into online businesses.
After Jack Ma, Hou Jun, and Cheng Congwu withdrew from the company, Alibaba Culture, and Entertainment Co., Ltd was added as the company’s new shareholder. The business scope for the company, now that a few shareholders have been changed, includes electronic publication wholesale, online sales; surveying and mapping services; design, production, agency, advertising, etc. There is unlikely to be any major consequences after the departure of Jack Ma.
