Re:Uber Posts First Quarterly Net Profit of $394M
by usefulcat on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @12:04PM
(#36957880)
> The problem is, they seem to have failed to drive out the competition.
How could it be otherwise? Their product is, and always has been, a commodity.
* Average customer does not care whether they are getting a ride via Uber/Lyft/$XYZ
* Average driver doesn't care whether they're driving for Uber/Lyft/$XYZ
* The technology required to implement this service (software, mostly), while not trivial, is also not that difficult
* The capital requirements are not that high (compared to, say, building a fab).. Unless of course you burn investor capital for years to undercut competition. That is the closest thing they ever had to a moat, which was obviously not sustainable long term.
How could it be otherwise? Their product is, and always has been, a commodity.
* Average customer does not care whether they are getting a ride via Uber/Lyft/$XYZ
* Average driver doesn't care whether they're driving for Uber/Lyft/$XYZ
* The technology required to implement this service (software, mostly), while not trivial, is also not that difficult
* The capital requirements are not that high (compared to, say, building a fab).. Unless of course you burn investor capital for years to undercut competition. That is the closest thing they ever had to a moat, which was obviously not sustainable long term.