Apple’s investment in Didi could help the company curry favor in China. Longer-term, it could help Apple compete against Google in technology to power self-driving cars.
两个 WSJ 前科技记者写的分析,挺有意思的。这次投资上头条是因为苹果很少做大手笔投资,上一次还是两年前 30 亿买 Beats,那时候也是刷屏新闻。
这两位记者报道说 Uber CEO 之前计划本周去苹果总部谈合作的。宣布这笔投资以后苹果未来还是有可能和 Uber 合作。
First, we’ve learned that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was planning a meeting at Apple’s headquarters this week to talk about future partnership opportunities, according to someone told about the plans.
That’s a reminder that there are a lot of ways Apple and Uber could—and do—work together. (Uber buys a lot of iPhones for its drivers, for example.)
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Didi President Jean Liu first met Tim Cook on 4/20.
Jean and Cheng Wei met with Apple 8 months ago in CA.
短期来看,多数跑中国科技新闻的记者都认为苹果投滴滴主要是为了向中国示好。
As for the significance of this unusual investment, the deal seems like a calculated move by Apple to curry favor in China. Apple has been playing the China game relatively well, but things are getting dicey. Some Apple services have recently been blocked by the Chinese government and iPhone sales in China are slumping. This sort of investment in a China tech darling goes a long way in showing respect for China’s tech sector and economy.
It’s no mistake that Tim Cook’s press statement said Didi “exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China.” China’s business leaders and politicians continue to argue that China doesn’t get enough credit for being “innovative.”
长期来看,苹果希望和谷歌在无人驾驶汽车上抗衡。但这个“长期”可能是几十年以后。
This deal isn’t about the Didi service today. It establishes a future alliance around tech like self-driving cars, where Apple and Google are going head-to-head. Developing autonomous vehicles is the end game for these ride sharing companies—the move that will help them mint money by cutting out the cost of drivers. Uber has made big investments on that front, as has its partner Baidu. Didi had not. But Apple, which has an army working on car technology, can help.
This isn’t a near-term thing. The cost of labor in India and China is so low that self-driving technology won’t take hold in those countries until long after it does in the U.S. Still, it’s on the horizon. And we wouldn’t be surprised if this is only the beginning of the Apple-Didi funding partnership. Didi is going to continue to need more money. Apple can easily part with it.
对中国市场来说,Uber 和滴滴看来是不可能通过换股联合了。
Finally, this investment will affect China’s on-demand ride market, of course. In short, it makes any truce or merger between Uber and Didi, which are spending billions a year in rider and driver promotions in China, very unlikely in the foreseeable future.
To back up, for months, investors in Uber and Didi have been buzzing that the eventual end game of this war will be an equity swap between the companies that would involve them joining forces in some way. How this would happen, no one can even really speculate. But the idea is that they would give up going head-to-head in China in exchange for equity stakes in the other, and maybe some tech licensing deals.
We’ve dismissed this idea for a while. Kalanick isn’t one to settle. And why would Didi need a merger? Market share numbers can’t be trusted by either side, but Didi is winning handily.
But if you look deeper, Didi is still in a tough spot. The company can’t make money in cities where Uber operates because the price competition is so intense. So, giving up some equity for getting Uber out could be worth it. We’re also told Kalanick and Didi CEO Wei Cheng respect each other and could be seen working together. But the sense among investors in each company is that the gap between the respective prices they would put on their assets would be too wide.
Also, some say Uber wants to being able to point to its China business while pitching investors for an IPO, which is likely years away.
All that said, by taking another $1 billion from Apple and continuing to raise, Didi has ensured this fight will go on longer.
记者向滴滴问的几个问题:
When I asked Didi’s Jean Liu if the company will integrate Apple products, she strongly implied yes. She said Didi has only penetrated 1% of Chinese market.
Will Didi help with Apple’s government relations in China? Didi’s Liu: “We can help each other.”
Didi’s Jean Liu: Relationship w/Apple started w/joke to Cook. “Didi”=”Little Orange” & “co. named after a fruit could achieve something big.”(感谢评论科普。小橘子是“小桔科技有限公司”。)
记者最后说苹果不一定用的是离岸的钱。他们不一定可以用人民币投资的。