Except the taxi industry in many cities is not a free market, my city in particular being #1 on both the world crony capitalist index and the world economic freedom index (Hong Kong). Uber stuck their middle finger at our regulators in a way that no other company had dared to before, at the benefit of consumers.
Going forward, I don't think we'll ever see another taxi company with the balls and cash that Uber has (or had).
Then it should be hoped that locals will be inspired by Uber's example and launch a native version.
If we're going to put our faith in markets and free enterprise, then we need to believe that the market will find a way to deal with the gap of Uber. To do otherwise is to view the organization as indispensable, which is even worse than laissez-faire market worship; it's the objectivist veneration of a producer (vs. looters), and bowing to Uber's will because we think we cannot live if it shrugs.
There are plenty of other people in this world with balls and cash.
Do advocates of free markets as engines of creation and disruption really have so little faith?