Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#131

Post by zhte415 » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 11:52 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #17

Back in 2014, Didi and Kuaidi, the other big ride-hailing service in China, had a price war. This forced 20 smaller ride-hailing companies out of business. In 2015, Didi and Kuaidi merged.[1] They managed to escape antitrust review by claiming their revenue was below the $65 million threshold for antitrust reporting in China. With their price war, they were both losing money, so the deal was not subjected to antitrus…

You can order taxi on Didi and pay on cash on a metered fare; surge pricing is not possible.

For me, it is a convenience app to hail a taxi, nothing more nor less. Taxis in China are very inexpensive.

For ride shares, also pay outside the app, having hailed via it one-time. Driver is happy to have a regular ride-share.

And frankly, I'm happy to pay taxi-rate fares, that again are nothing in comparison to North American or European rates, for the convenience.

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#132

Post by menzoic » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 11:59 AM UTC

yladiz wrote: post #101

curiousDog wrote: post #11

Next up, gobbling up Lyft. Looks like they really want to be the monopoly at IPO time. At this rate, they'll probably IPO at more than $100 billion. Sigh, should've interviewed with them last year, haha

It's extremely unlikely that they'll IPO for anywhere near $100 billion, or even near their current valuation (for reference, the largest IPO in history is Alibaba with $25B). Their accounting practices most likely don't utilize GAAP, which is how they get around saying "we're profitable in the US", so I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually significantly losing money. Plus with the multitude of lawsuits agains…

> the largest IPO in history is Alibaba with $25B

Facebook's IPO was much larger at $104B

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#133

Post by perseusprime11 » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:03 PM UTC

It is interesting to note the Apple investment in Didi just a few months back. Did that in any way play a role in this merger? I think this is a good outcome given the consideration that Uber, an american company cannot own something as fundamental as transportation in China. The government plays too much of a role to let Uber or for that matter any other foreign company. Listen to Trump on this one!

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#134

Post by tluyben2 » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:13 PM UTC

I hope that the Uber app will be working still after this in Shanghai as for foreigners Uber is usable; Didi not really.

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#135

Post by robk » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:37 PM UTC

sudoscript wrote: post #3

I can't tell if this is a good deal for Uber investors or not. As I understand it, Uber will own a 20% share in the combined company. The combined company is valued at $35 billion, so Uber's share of the value will be $7 billion (actually less, since they also need to share it with Baidu which invested directly into Uber China too). $7 billion doesn't sound too bad as an exit. However, if Uber's China business is wor…

Didi was last valued at $28b according to press from June. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2016/06/17/didi-in-valuati...

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#136

Post by superuser2 » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:38 PM UTC

kuschku wrote: post #77

argonaut wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> are clearly still abysmal in almost all markets. Obviously we can't take their statements at face value, but Uber seems to be claiming they are profitable in most markets.

Not anymore once they have to get insurances for their drivers in the markets they operate in.

They did that years ago:

https://newsroom.uber.com/insurance-for-uberx-with-rideshari...

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#137

Post by Eutow » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:44 PM UTC

erikpukinskis wrote: post #66

> “Uber and Didi Chuxing are investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there. Getting to profitability is the only way to build a sustainable business that can best serve Chinese riders, drivers and cities over the long term.” Hm. This makes me wonder if their strategy for doing that is price fixing. The merger lets them do that legally. Are there any other serious players in…

>The deal with Didi Chuxing comes just days after China agreed to provide a legal framework for taxi-ordering apps. Both Uber and Didi have welcomed the decision, having previously operated in a legal grey area in the country. While the apps are widely popular, they have undermined business for normal taxis and have been met with protests by cab drivers. The new rules will take effect on 1 November and will, among other things, forbid such platforms to operate below cost.

http://www.bbc.com/news/36938812

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#138

Post by whack » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:48 PM UTC

I really hope China adopts some kind of anti-trust regulation sometime soon. This trend of all competitors merging until only one monopolist is left standing, can't be good for their consumers, nor the economy.

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#139

Post by shimon_e » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:52 PM UTC

rahimnathwani wrote: post #122

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived in Beijing for the last 9 years. I beat the subway in a taxi on my commute from work to home except during peak rush hour. I work and live on 4th ring, it is a straight shot on line 10 without a transfer (ideal subway shot, routes are identical). Couple that with the subway never having seats, being ultra crowded (say hello to your neighbor's BO), and often having long lines to even get in the station via…

"lines to even get in the station via BS security" Yup, at Wudaokou this adds >5 minutes at rush hour. "Now Shanghai is completely different" I used to think that, until I started a lot of time in Shanghai. Surprisingly, getting from Hongqiao airport to somewhere in Pudong can be faster by car, even the whole subway journey is on line 2. The difference is not as stark as in Beijing, but it still exists. "I've shifted…

The last trains on line 2 are really fast as they skip most stops. Also really noisy as the trains are going well above their usual speed.

Re: Uber to Sell China Business to Rival Didi After Losing Billions

#140

Post by shimon_e » Mon, Aug 01, 2016, 12:53 PM UTC

jjgod wrote: post #58

theseadroid wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lived in Beijing for 2 decades. I think in Beijing and Shanghai, a private car is almost always slower than their subway systems. Beijing subway network has 18 lines, 334 stations and 554 km (344 mi) of track in operation and is the second longest subway system in the world after the Shanghai Metro (588 kilometres). Beijing subway also has extensive expansion plans call for 1,050 km (650 mi) of track by 2020. https:/…

Agreed. In Beijing/Shanghai I've always preferred subway to Taxi or ridesharing services, except when it's terribly bad weather and I have to talk over 1km or so, or when I carry tons of luggages.

Uber/Didi are a nonbrainer in second tier cities and below.