4 ms·

Kind of unfair to compare Didi (or any Chinese company) with the free market alternatives. If you're given state sponsorship from one of the largest countries,

Kind of unfair to compare Didi (or any Chinese company) with the free market alternatives. If you're given state sponsorship from one of the largest countries, then you should easily be able to do more rides than Uber.

komali2 9y ago
There's also Per Capita to consider. Obviously an anything in China will have more actual humans using it - there's a billion of them there.
- sunbuntu 9y ago
  There are more people in India than China so that is a bit rich.
linkregister 9y ago
I don't think that UberChina's failure to win against Didi was due to state sponsorship. Didi had a better product tailored to the Chinese market, better operations people who conducted local campaigns in more cities, and only one market to compete in, as opposed to Uber's worldwide competition. It was apparent that Didi had achieved the network effects necessary to overcome Uber in volume. Both companies wanted to focus on revenue so it was savvy of Didi to purchase UberChina so they could reduce ride subsidies. I think that the success of UberChina, along with Yum! and Wal-Mart, demonstrate that it is possible to prevail in the difficult Chinese market.
- euyyn 9y ago
  > a better product tailored to the Chinese market What were the differences?
  - linkregister 9y ago
    According to HN commenters in China, Didi understood that government employees needed a standard voucher so Didi made its generation automatic in the app. UberChina apparently never did. It was used as an example to illustrate that Didi did the little things that remove friction for its customers. Didi also recruited drivers in smaller cities; its coverage was superior to UberChina's.
- wilbeibi 9y ago
  and MUJI, also very successful in China
rhizome 9y ago
I think there's a case to be made that the tax policies that apply to investor organizations and participants qualifies as a form of state sponsorship.
- nickpsecurity 9y ago
  Do they nearly guarantee people will buy the app despite foreign competition? This sort of thing happens in China more than over here. U.S. consumers use or buy products from many places with significant percentage coming from China at some point. Something just being American sponsored doesn't usually cut it.

komali2 9y ago

There's also Per Capita to consider. Obviously an anything in China will have more actual humans using it - there's a billion of them there.

sunbuntu 9y ago
There are more people in India than China so that is a bit rich.

linkregister 9y ago

I don't think that UberChina's failure to win against Didi was due to state sponsorship. Didi had a better product tailored to the Chinese market, better operations people who conducted local campaigns in more cities, and only one market to compete in, as opposed to Uber's worldwide competition. It was apparent that Didi had achieved the network effects necessary to overcome Uber in volume. Both companies wanted to focus on revenue so it was savvy of Didi to purchase UberChina so they could reduce ride subsidies. I think that the success of UberChina, along with Yum! and Wal-Mart, demonstrate that it is possible to prevail in the difficult Chinese market.

euyyn 9y ago
> a better product tailored to the Chinese market What were the differences?
- linkregister 9y ago
  According to HN commenters in China, Didi understood that government employees needed a standard voucher so Didi made its generation automatic in the app. UberChina apparently never did. It was used as an example to illustrate that Didi did the little things that remove friction for its customers. Didi also recruited drivers in smaller cities; its coverage was superior to UberChina's.
wilbeibi 9y ago
and MUJI, also very successful in China

rhizome 9y ago

I think there's a case to be made that the tax policies that apply to investor organizations and participants qualifies as a form of state sponsorship.

nickpsecurity 9y ago
Do they nearly guarantee people will buy the app despite foreign competition? This sort of thing happens in China more than over here. U.S. consumers use or buy products from many places with significant percentage coming from China at some point. Something just being American sponsored doesn't usually cut it.