To Do What Google Does In Maps, Apple Would Have To Hire 7,000 People

This Fall, Apple will remove the default Google Maps app from its iPhone and iPad operating system, iOS, and replace it with its own in-house designed app.

Apple is going to make its own maps using data from third-parties like TomTom.

After speaking with a pair of Googlers about this, we wonder if Apple may have bitten off more than it can chew.

One big reason:  Google has 1,100 full time employees and 6,000 contractors working on its mapping products.  Those 7,000 people do all sorts of granular work.

One source reminds us Google has "street view drivers, people flying planes,  people drawing maps, people correcting listings, and people building new products."

Excluding its retail army, Apple only has 13,000 employees in total.  

Is it really ready to increase that number by 53%?

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