Uber might be one of the most successful startup ever. But it still faced an embarrassing lost on its’ attempt on entering Asian market. In the first quarter of 2019, it was forced to admit a lost to Grab. It let the Singapore-based firm to acquire its Southeast Asian business.
Beaten up by Grab in Southeast Asia, Uber runs to India
But Uber is not done yet in Asia. Despite the continuing dip in east Asia market, Uber announced a new feature for its’ service in India. It started on the trial of e-bikes and bicycles rides in the country. For it, it partnered up with bicycle sharing platform Yulu.
The e-bikes market in India is growing steady. It is increasingly a threat to taxi services there. Yulu operates around 500 e-bikes and 4,500 bicycles on its platform. Despite its being only a two year old company.
With this partnerships, customers can unlock Yulu e-bikes and bicycles using a QR Code from Uber app. The e-bikes can run up to 25km/hr without requiring its users to have particular driving licence.
In India itself Uber is facing a serious competition from Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm is offering its services in over 100 cities around the country. And Uber has only around 40 cities in its’ platform.
A bad first day on the IPO
Meanwhile, the San Francisco firm had just go public today (May, 11). Yet the road is still bumpy for Uber. On its’ first day at the IPO, it faced a 7,6% drop on stock. It seems like it’s going to be a long ride before it’s able to achieve its initial goal to value up to $90 B through the IPO.
This is a dangerous state for Uber. Along with the continuing strike from its drivers around the world, it admitted a possibility of never gaining profit. After its founding in 2009, the company has lost about $9 B.
The competitions are just too tight in the ride hailing section. There are too many ride hailing startups with just a slight better service. Therefore Uber is focusing more on automatic car development and food delivery services.
