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Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

forbes.com

11–20 of 32 posts

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#11
post #2

It's worth pointing out that Uber has already become massive in China; whenever I'm in Guangzhou there are a ridiculous amount of rides available and you're rarely waiting more than a few minutes.

Cause you are just at GuangZhou. Take a look at other cities around the west and mid area of China. DidiKuaidi still dominate those cities and will keep this position for a long time

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#12
post #7

The article talks about subsidies. Does anyone know how much Uber and friends are subsidising their rides? As in if I pay on average 10 USD to Uber, then the driver gets what? 5 USD, 10 USD, 15 USD?

I have old information, hopefully you still find it relevant. Around April in Beijing, for 10rmb paid by us Uber driver was paid 40rmb - at least that's what he told us. We asked only one though.

Wow - that is a lot.

Also I noticed a lot of 200 HKD vouchers being handed out when I was in Hong Kong recently.

I have no clear gage of the subsidies but my feeling is that they are very big.

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#13
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, this is the best point I've ever heard about uber. Before I've in San Francisco I used to have a number of black cab drivers in my contacts. We had set, agreed on prices for trips like "home to restaurant and back" The prices agreed to were "low" by actual taxi rate standards and had the convenience of just calling the Lincoln car directly to come get me... I thought it was a win!! (I lived where cabs would NE…

Note when I say black cab, I actually mean 黑车 whose direct English translation probably isn't very precise. Essentially, these are illegal taxis that would have wandered the streets looking for fares when they can get away with it. They don't mean a legal black livery car as in say...NYC. You didn't see them so much in the first tier cities (though they are still around) where there were enough taxis, but they were e…

You did actually see them in the first tier cities - though maybe not in certain areas. For instance entire intersections right outside of Haidianhuangzhuang on line 4 in Beijing would be routinely blocked by black cabbies just chilling there waiting for fares. Maybe less so inside 2nd ring.

I think it's a very interesting point about legitimizing this existing practice. Maybe they'll be less prone to blocking intersections now if they have the ability source fares through an app instead of harassing people coming out of Universities, subway stations, etc.

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#14
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note when I say black cab, I actually mean 黑车 whose direct English translation probably isn't very precise. Essentially, these are illegal taxis that would have wandered the streets looking for fares when they can get away with it. They don't mean a legal black livery car as in say...NYC. You didn't see them so much in the first tier cities (though they are still around) where there were enough taxis, but they were e…

You did actually see them in the first tier cities - though maybe not in certain areas. For instance entire intersections right outside of Haidianhuangzhuang on line 4 in Beijing would be routinely blocked by black cabbies just chilling there waiting for fares. Maybe less so inside 2nd ring. I think it's a very interesting point about legitimizing this existing practice. Maybe they'll be less prone to blocking inters…

Oh, I definitely saw them in Beijing, especially when it was raining. I also took them a couple of times.

But these new services...didi dache, brings new standards to the game, the cars have to be at a certain level, and are often rentals. So, the old black cabs with the little Chinese cars are kind of cut out of the service.

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#16

>>first order of business was to move beyond the taxi roots and emulate Uber’s model whole cloth Typical Chinese approach. What options do companies have when this happens?

Lyft realized this and decided to partner with Didi to get market share http://www.wired.com/2015/09/lyft-didi-kuaidi/. It's the old saying that your enemy's enemy is your friend, especially true when you knew you cannot win.

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#17

>>first order of business was to move beyond the taxi roots and emulate Uber’s model whole cloth Typical Chinese approach. What options do companies have when this happens?

How is that a problem? They don't have IP protection on the idea. It's quite fair and lawful for another company to copy it. They still need to overcome network effects and actually implement it. As the article shows, this was hard.

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#18
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, this is the best point I've ever heard about uber. Before I've in San Francisco I used to have a number of black cab drivers in my contacts. We had set, agreed on prices for trips like "home to restaurant and back" The prices agreed to were "low" by actual taxi rate standards and had the convenience of just calling the Lincoln car directly to come get me... I thought it was a win!! (I lived where cabs would NE…

Note when I say black cab, I actually mean 黑车 whose direct English translation probably isn't very precise. Essentially, these are illegal taxis that would have wandered the streets looking for fares when they can get away with it. They don't mean a legal black livery car as in say...NYC. You didn't see them so much in the first tier cities (though they are still around) where there were enough taxis, but they were e…

> Note when I say black cab, I actually mean 黑车 whose direct English translation probably isn't very precise. Essentially, these are illegal taxis that would have wandered the streets looking for fares when they can get away with it. They don't mean a legal black livery car as in say...NYC.

Gypsy cabs?

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#19

>>first order of business was to move beyond the taxi roots and emulate Uber’s model whole cloth Typical Chinese approach. What options do companies have when this happens?

How is that a problem? They don't have IP protection on the idea. It's quite fair and lawful for another company to copy it. They still need to overcome network effects and actually implement it. As the article shows, this was hard.

The parent comment didn't say they did have IP protection, nor that it was unlawful.

They asked how a company can or should respond in order to compete effectively.

It's a huge problem for most any company anywhere: how to compete when your competition is able to effectively clone you (not to mention if they have other advantages you inherently can't match in the market in question).

Re: Didi Kuaidi: Uber's Enemy in China

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that a problem? They don't have IP protection on the idea. It's quite fair and lawful for another company to copy it. They still need to overcome network effects and actually implement it. As the article shows, this was hard.

The parent comment didn't say they did have IP protection, nor that it was unlawful. They asked how a company can or should respond in order to compete effectively. It's a huge problem for most any company anywhere: how to compete when your competition is able to effectively clone you (not to mention if they have other advantages you inherently can't match in the market in question).

GP specifically said "Typical Chinese approach". Contrast with what you said "It's a huge problem for most any company anywhere", which is more reasonable.

Additionally, while "it's a huge problem for most any company anywhere", if there were no competition, it would be a huge problem for society.

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