Lion has cured me of any such belief.
Google didn't invent maps, but it did spend years building a street view database that nobody else has. And sure, Apple could absolutely build one. But they couldn't do it without anyone noticing all the cars driving down every street in multiple countries.
So we know they, nor anybody else, are doing it at the moment.
There's never going to be a commercially available database of business information like Google has either, as it's really impossible to build without owning the world's largest search engine too, so you give businesses a massive incentive to submit accurate and timely listings.
Is this anticompetitive? Well, it would be. If there was any indication that Google weren't perfectly happy to give it to Apple. Apple appear to just be wanting to cut off their nose to spite their face.
Phazer