The clues that this was not just an investment but a Statement were easy to spot: A billion dollars isn’t a random number -- it’s a headline-grabbing way to telegraph This Is A Big Deal. As is Didi president Jean Liu’s comment that the deal closed in little over a month. Then there was the way the deal was announced immediately prior to an 8pm (pacific time) press conference which the world’s tech reporters had to drop everything to be on (which they did, of course.) We expect that kind of thing from a Beyonce album launch, not a ridesharing investment announcement.

    This deal, and the way it has been positioned, is huge for Didi’s global media and investor cred. A partnership of this size with Apple positions Didi as a major international player, not just Uber’s “Chinese competition.” It undercuts the argument that Didi has won in China simply because of its closeness with the protectionist Chinese government. It says we are a serious, and fierce player in its own right, on a world stage. A four-year old Chinese giant that is already the second largest commerce platform in China next to Alibaba and is going international way sooner than we’ve ever seen before.



jadedog:

I don't know the financials, but I wonder if this is all good business sense in the end.

    And of course Apple is doing this in part to mess with Uber. Apple has already signaled it’s getting into the self-driving car game along with Google and Tesla. Unlike Tencent and Alibaba, Apple is a potential Uber competitor in and of itself. It has the same incentive Didi does in making sure Uber doesn’t get too dominant in the meantime. And Google-- while it’s sparred with Uber-- is also an investor in Uber. So this is as much about Apple versus Google as it is Didi versus Uber and Lyft versus Uber.

This all sounds more like petty rivalries more than sound business sense. From the other article on Uber vs. Apple uploaded today on Hubski, Didi is losing billions battling Uber.

From the other article:

    Though Didi Chuxing is valued at upwards of $20 billion, according to a person familiar with its ongoing funding round, the company has been losing billions in a costly battle with Uber for market share in China.

Recently, I was watching a really old video where Steve Jobs was introducing Bill Gates in his presentation because Bill Gates had just invested in Apple to help get them out of bankruptcy. The Apple crowd soundly booed him. Jobs noted that the culture at Apple was so competitive that their hatred didn't allow them to see how alliances could help them.

I don't know anything about this deal or any of Apple's financial decisions, but from these two articles, I'm not seeing much in the way of strategy, only petty rivalries.


posted 2901 days ago