
Jean Liu Reveals How Didi Kuaidi Is Beating Uber (2015) - walterbell
http://www.wsj.com/articles/jean-liu-reveals-how-didi-kuaidi-is-beating-uber-1438715398
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mikeryan
Is it any surprise that Uber can't keep up with a well funded overseas
competitor in their native market? I mean just trying to keep up with the
changing US regulation landscape that can shift from city to city is hard
enough.

I'd almost cede China and stop throwing resources at a market you're likely to
lose.

~~~
fullshark
Sounds like they just did that:

[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/uber-
said-...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/uber-said-to-
merge-china-business-with-didi-in-35-billion-deal)

~~~
mikeryan
Man I would have looked a lot smarter if I made this comment 3 days ago ;-)

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ryporter
Everything mentioned in this article is a relatively small factor compared to
the largest -- Didi Kuaidi is a Chinese company, and Uber is not. Didi may
indeed have the superior approach, but we won't know until the two companies
both try to enter a new market outside of their respective countries at around
the same time.

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PakG1
My Chinese friend in Beijing once read an article about why Didi was winning.
She told me that the article missed one of the most important things in her
opinion. With Didi, she can get a fapiao receipt, which she can then give to
her company to claim expenses. She can't get a fapiao receipt with Uber.
That's why she never takes Uber. I don't know how big of an effect this
actually has, it's just an interesting anecdote.

~~~
brador
> With Didi, she can get a fapiao receipt, which she can then give to her
> company to claim expenses. She can't get a fapiao receipt with Uber.

And this right here is here is why you track down your competitors users and
ask them why they don't switch.

~~~
fgonzag
At least in Mexico, Uber (besides a very small number of taxi companies) is
the only company that provides "facturas", a government approved invoice.
Without it no expenses are deductible. Standard taxis do not provide them most
of the time.

That's part of the reason uber was such a big hit in mexico.

So Uber probably knows about the importance of the document, maybe the Chinese
don't let them create them.

~~~
blackguardx
Cabs in Shenzhen all have little dashboard printers for the "fapiao." They
aren't official and look like a cheap receipt from a corner store. I doubt it
is a regulation thing.

~~~
paradite
Why would they not be official?

How fanciful do you expect of an invoice that comes from a some component of a
taxi? A full POS standard?

~~~
blackguardx
Official meaning not on a government form

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theprotocol
How many doom & gloom articles about Uber have there been this week?

I'm undecided on whether it's legitimate, or verging on smear territory.

~~~
erdevs
Such schadenfreude and enmity are natural responses to people or entities
which seem overconfident and braggadocios, or which play dirty, or which
bully. Uber has created the perception that they are or do all of those
things.

~~~
theprotocol
Perhaps, but if (and that's a big if) that's the main reason behind these
articles, then I'm disappointed in these authors for not being above such
pettiness. Or maybe my expectation of more dispassionate articles is naive...

But hopefully the "if" condition of the previous paragraph evaluates to false.
:)

~~~
erdevs
I'm not sure if it's pettiness. Perhaps think of it as a societal or economic
immunological response. Such actors seek to punish, in whatever ways they can,
entities viewed as "bad actors". This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and may
actually be a good thing. As in creating social or economic consequences for
those who fail to reciprocate resource sharing, these sorts of punitive
actions can be net-wins for economy and society. This point goes beyond Uber
itself; a conclusion might be that it's great to create a valuable and
disruptive service like Uber... but one could be even more successful in doing
so if they weren't a jerk about it (or were more savvy about avoiding the
perception that they're a jerk).

It may be petty, as you say. Or it may not be. Regardless, it's sad that
journalists today don't consistently go after all bad actors, if they're going
to do this. Uber seems fairly inept and heavy-handed in managing their
leadership brand, but many other companies have proven how simple it is to
placate perception while behaving very destructively behind the scenes.

~~~
theprotocol
I agree with the principle of there being consequences, but what I don't agree
with is for the condemnation to be deliberate and for journalism to be used in
service of that, rather than impartial reporting.

When you describe the consequences as an immunological response, I think of
something organic, more of an unguided process, not driven by awareness of
meta-factors.

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erdevs
I'd missed this article. Very interesting to contrast the (stated) strategies
and philosophies of each company. Taking Didi's stated approach at face value,
it's easy to see why they chose a beneficial partnership with a company like
Lyft which seems to share their ethos while seeking to eliminate Uber (and now
succeeding at that).

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mikehines
It's all about 关系 in China.

