Naver's map app tops Saudi Apple App Store chart, beating Google within a week of launch

Naver's map app Balady+ has topped the free navigation category on Saudi Arabia's Apple App Store, surpassing Google Maps less than a week after its beta launch on Oct. 29.

The early result has drawn attention to whether Naver's mapping service can hold its own in overseas markets where Google dominates. Naver's strategy is to apply the mapping technology it has built up domestically to Saudi Arabia and expand partnerships with local companies to take on Google Maps.

According to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Balady+ claimed the top spot in the free navigation category on the Saudi Apple App Store for the first time on Nov. 5, pushing local map app HudHud and Google Maps to second and third place, respectively.

At launch on Oct. 29, Balady+ had ranked ninth in the category. It climbed rapidly in the days that followed, reaching No. 1 just six days after its debut. The rankings among Balady+, HudHud and Google Maps have continued to shift since then.

Balady+ was developed by Naver Innovation, a joint venture established by Naver Cloud and Saudi Arabia's National Housing Co. It marks Naver's first map service launched in an overseas market and is available in both Arabic and English across Saudi Arabia.

The app offers driving and walking directions as well as public transit routes covering subway and bus lines. Its navigation features include real-time accident alerts, road closure updates, speed camera locations, speed bump warnings and junction zoom-in guidance.

Naver has positioned the freshness and accuracy of its map data as its key differentiator. Saudi Arabia is a market where car travel is dominant and road conditions change frequently due to new construction, ongoing works and traffic controls. Naver has built a system that collects road network and point-of-interest data through direct on-the-ground driving surveys and regularly updates changes to roads and stores.

The approach applies the technology and service experience Naver has accumulated through operating Naver Maps domestically, adapted to the local Saudi environment.

Industry observers say the achievement is significant because it marks Naver's expansion from digital twin projects into a consumer-facing platform business in Saudi Arabia. "If Naver has until now been proving its technological capabilities to governments and businesses, it has now entered the stage of competing directly with global platforms like Google Maps for individual users," an industry official said.

Naver won a contract in October 2023 to build a digital twin platform for Saudi Arabia's National Housing Co. It subsequently completed digital twin projects for major cities including Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, and in August the platform was adopted as a national standard by the Saudi government.

While the earlier work focused on building urban spatial data and supplying related technology to governments and businesses, Balady+ differs in that it is a lifestyle service used daily by ordinary consumers. The development represents an expansion of Naver's Saudi business from business-to-government to business-to-consumer.

Naver plans to grow Balady+ into a map-based "super app" through partnerships with local companies, offering not just restaurant search and navigation but a range of everyday services — including reservations, payments, delivery and pickup — all within a single app.