TomTom, once a leading sat-nav maker, was written off when Google made navigation free in 2009. However, the company's comeback offers a remarkable survival lesson for UK businesses.
TomTom's rise was extraordinary: revenue grew from €40 million to €1.8 billion in five years, and nearly 10 million people owned one of its devices. But when Google launched free turn-by-turn navigation, the company's share price collapsed 97 percent.
The company had paid €2.9 billion for map maker Tele Atlas, which seemed like a reckless acquisition at the time. However, it turned out to be the one asset that Google could not copy: one of only two digital maps of the world.
TomTom stopped selling navigation devices and started licensing location technology instead. Nearly two decades on, its full year 2025 results show revenue of €555 million, gross margins of 88 percent, and an operating profit.
For smaller firms facing their own giant-shaped problem, the playbook breaks down into three moves.
First, protect the capability, not the product. TomTom's founders bet that their maps, continuously improved by billions of GPS observations, were the real business. They kept Tele Atlas chief executive Alain De Taeye, who led mapmaking for the next 18 years.
When revenue fell 60 percent, TomTom's founders did not retrench: they put in €169 million of their own money and increased annual R&D almost tenfold. They invested through the crisis, not after it.
Second, win by partnering with your rival's enemies. Uber, Microsoft, and Huawei all chose TomTom precisely because it was not Google. Chief executive Harold Goddijn called TomTom the "Switzerland of navigation," and neutrality became the advantage.
Google even kept recruiting customers for its rival, and TomTom became the infrastructure underneath everyone who did not want to depend on it. Plenty of British firms have found the same, which is why specialist businesses continue to outperform larger competitors in markets the giants supposedly own.
Finally, change the economics before you restructure. Revenue fell 60 percent, but gross margins nearly doubled to 88 percent. TomTom's Orbis platform replaced quarterly map releases with a continuously updated AI system.
Only then came the cuts, with 800 roles removed. Technology first, cost base second. Mike Schoofs sold off the sat-nav business, built the maps business, and eventually became chief executive. Sequencing matters as much as the destination.
When Google made navigation free, TomTom made maps indispensable. The company everyone thought was finished is quietly showing everyone else the way.
