4 ms·
In what way is the ride-share market any sort of monopoly when there's little barrier to entry. In fact, I see new entrants in this market all the time. Hardly
by rexreed 10y ago
In what way is the ride-share market any sort of monopoly when there's little barrier to entry. In fact, I see new entrants in this market all the time. Hardly any chance to be a real monopoly unless they can somehow carve their way to exclusivity in a market, which is never going to happen.
- petra 10y agoThe ride-sharing market stops being a free-for-all once many people start to share a car and it's critical to find the most optimal route for them. Than having large masses of users become critical. The only thing i find curious - why is UBER/LYFT so slow in attacking the true sharing market ?
- aetherson 10y agoBecause people don't actually want to share a cab with a stranger, and wait while that stranger is dropped off. At least, that's my bet.
- amyjess 10y agoYep. I've been creeped on by drivers before. Not many, but it's enough that I've taken to cancelling more rides than I would have in the past (generally: male driver I don't know + low rating + nighttime = cancel). Having to deal with sharing a car with not just one stranger, but two or more strangers? Nuh-uh. At least most drivers won't creep on me because they want to keep their jobs; fellow passengers, on the other hand, don't have that incentive.
- tomcam 10y agoTheir long-term play is driverless cards--buy or lease fleet cars, then charge people a subscription to commute or use the cars a certain amount per month. The current business is building brand awareness and inertia.
- kirykl 10y agoI've seen this idea but can't understand it. By owning or leasing a fleet of driverless cars Uber only increases its operating costs
- Fricken 10y agoWell, for Uber it's do or die. But for the manufacturers of autonomous vehicles- why would they sell cars Uber at a ~5% margin per car when they can offer the robotaxi service themselves and command a ~25% margin per trip?
- macspoofing 10y agoThat's easy. Because don't have to worry about finding customers, fighting off competition, and competing with their customers (like Uber). They just have to worry about building cars.
- butisaidsudo 10y agoFurther, they're also collecting massive amounts of data about commuting patterns that will give them an edge over new entrants once driverless cars are a thing.
- tomcam 10y agoAhem. "cards" = "cars", "inertia" = "momentum"
- kinkdr 10y agoSorry if I was not clear. I meant that it sounds to me that this is their plan. I didn't say they will succeed.
- kinkdr 10y agoI wouldn't be surprised if Uber and Lyft start lobbying for legislation that will make it difficult for new entrants in the market.