So many of the articles out regarding Uber contain a lot of FUD. It's amazingly similar to Tesla articles (ie., losing money, overvalued, etc).
But if you dig down into the data, it turns out Uber has a very compelling growth story.
This article is showing Uber the dominant ride/taxi-hailing app in 108 countries.
Uber Is Now the Most Popular Taxi App in 108 Countries
The main battle areas are:
1. India
Uber is in a dead heat battle with Ola. And the battle is just getting more intense. This will likely be Uber's top priority over the next 1-2 years. Uber claims they have even market share w/Ola but Ola claims they're larger. It looks to me like Uber has got momentum here, but Ola is a formidable competitor w/more tailored options for the locals.
2. SE Asia
Harvard grads started Grab in 2012 to basically do Uber in SE Asia, so they have a headstart over Uber and they're very smart in localizing the service to the SE Asia region. But Uber is gaining traction in this region, so I think the battle will get more intense.
3. South America
Easy Taxi merged with Tappsi late last year to fend off Uber emerging in the region. But Easy Taxi has lost a lot of momentum. They used to be in Asia and other parts of the world, but they've pulled back significantly. And even in the home markets Uber is gaining ground. Easy Taxi also doesn't have the funding needed to take on a giant like Uber. I'd give this a couple years and I think we'll see Uber dominate South America.
4. Russia
Yandex is the leader here and Uber can afford to lose this country, but it appears that Uber (though much later to the game than Yandex) still has a chance. Game not over here yet.
A few other notes. Israel's first place player is Gett... and VW just acquired a controlling stake in the company.
When Didi Kuaidi acquired Uber China, they also did a board tie-up of sorts. Didi's CEO joined Uber's board and Uber's CEO joined Didi's board. Seems like they're intending to cooperate more in the future, perhaps in future markets.
Overall though, it's very impressive that Uber has been this effective in over 100 countries. It must be a logistical nightmare to have operations in so many countries, and to be doing so at a frenetic pace.
(note: these are my thoughts after reading a few hundred articles on the ride-sharing industry worldwide, but my thoughts will probably evolve as I read more... i'll probably have read few thousand articles after another month since I'm investing a lot of time into this)
View attachment 191863