newnetland

European Tech Analysis

Uber and China

Posted on 1. February 2016 Written by Marcel Weiss

Josh Horwitz writing for Stratechery (paywall):

According to McKinsey, China’s middle class is expected to balloon from 256 million in 2013 to 357 million by 2022,according to McKinsey. That’s larger than the entire population of the US.

Moreover, this middle class wealth tends to be concentrated in China’s dense suburbs. In China, urbanization is still ongoing. The same Mckinsey report notes that an increasing number of China’s middle class — about 70% — will be located in China’s second- and third-tier cities in about six years. Car ownership rates in these cities are almost uniformly lower than ownership rates in New York City, but they likely have even worse public infrastructure and equally low taxi penetration rates than the US. Lower car ownership plus poor public infrastructure equals prime conditions for ride-sharing adoption.

To make things concrete: Uber has begun expanding aggressively in Sichuan, which has a population of 80 million people, more than the entire population of France. In November 2015, it launched in Mianyang, which is home to 5.4 million people, and a registered taxi count of 1,747. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has a population of 3.8 million people and 2,361 taxis.

There are hundreds of cities like Mianyang in China, which are small by Chinese standards but large by global standards.

(..)

While the Chinese government has eased its stance on peer-to-peer ride-hailing, it has not become more lenient towards foreign tech companies. Uber deserves more credit than it has received for playing its cards right in China. But the deck is still stacked against it.

Utterly fascinating report. Uber managed to get further in China than any other foreign tech company before by localizing operations and investments (bringing local wealth on board the Uber ship helps with lobbying). The Chinese market is a huge opportunity even for the number two in the P2P transportation sector.

The most interesting aspect: The different situation the Chinese middle class is in compared to the West might mean it will leapfrog car ownership and go straight to services and ride-sharing; like the move straight to mobile, leapfrogging the desktop.

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: Cars, Uber

“Facebook hints at how it could become a big player in the ride-sharing business”

Posted on 1. February 2016 Written by Marcel Weiss

Quartz:

In a patent application published today—first surfaced by the legal technology firm ClientSide—Facebook outlines a system for setting up carpools for people attending the same event.

For now, it’s worth remembering: Many companies in the “sharing economy“—including AirBnb and Uber itself—currently use Facebook as a login and user verification system, so it’s not infeasible that Facebook could just cut out the middle man and use its own network in the future.

Sure. But they’d be a bit late to the party. (Certainly not too late, but still.)

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: Facebook, Uber

Analysis and links to articles on the big picture of the tech industry and the networked information economy.

Author: Marcel Weiss is a writer, consultant and fighter for pareto-optima. He is thinking and linking from Berlin, Germany.

contact: marcel@neunetz.com

Marcel Weiss on LinkedIn
newnetland on Twitter
RSS-Feed

Subscribe by e-mail to newnetland (E-mails go out weekly, on Fridays.)

Recent Analysis

Implications of the Microsoft Wunderlist deal

Zoë Keating and the problem with streaming services being shop *&* record collection

Apple should review App Review

Would Microsoft fork Android? Not likely.

Define web platform

Recent Links

“What if Our Problems Aren’t Tech Problems?”

“We are not reaching 1.5ºC earlier than previously thought”

“The Digital Nomads Did Not Prepare for This”

“Various first words”

“Germany Drops Idea Of ‘Pre-Flagging’ Legal Uploads, Which Could Have Stopped EU Copyright Filters Blocking Memes, Parodies, Quotes And Creative Commons Material”

Categories

  • Analysis
  • Links
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in