Apple is Not Planning to Buy Waze, the Company That Bashed its Maps App

Contrary to a previous report, Apple AAPL has no interest in acquiring Waze. Designed to be a crowd-sourced app that draws traffic data from its community of users, Waze made headlines when its CEO, Noam Bardin, told Business Insider that Apple was foolish to partner with TomTom TMOAF. "Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player," he said. "They're now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they're competing against Google, which has the highest data set." Despite his complaints, rumors began to spread that Apple was interested in acquiring the firm for as much as $500 million. The iPhone maker was expected to use Waze to bolster the effectiveness and reliability of its own Maps app. Now CNET is reporting that the rumor is completely false. "A source familiar with Apple's thinking has told CNET that reports that Waze would be acquired by the iPhone maker are completely 'fabricated,'" CNET's Don Reisinger wrote. "The person told CNET that Apple has no plans to acquire Waze, and discussions are currently not being held between the companies." While one unnamed source cannot automatically discredit another unnamed source, this is an interesting response for a rumor that is only a couple days old. Apple closed down more than one percent today. Garmin GRMN, the world leader in GPS device manufacturing, closed down less than one percent. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ