How does the story of Uber's expansion into China and Southeast Asia relate to contemporary debates about global business strategies?

Uber's expansion into China and Southeast Asia is a classic example of aggressive global business strategies. The company spent billions in an attempt to establish a market presence, often engaging in price wars with local competitors like DiDi in China and Grab in Southeast Asia. However, these strategies led to significant financial losses and ultimately, Uber had to withdraw from these markets, selling its operations to local competitors. This raises questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of such aggressive expansion strategies in global business. It also highlights the importance of understanding local market dynamics and the challenges of competing with well-established local players.

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By 2015, Uber burned between $40 million to $50 million a week in China to convince riders to use Uber over DiDi. The worst thing was, nearly 50% of the rides were fraudulent. In addition, Uber's competitor DiDi engaged in corporate espionage to sabotage Uber. After two years and billions in losses, investors forced Kalanick to abandon China. DiDi would take over Uber's business, and Uber received a 17.7% equity stake in the company. In Southeast Asia, a similar story played out as Uber burned $1 billion to fight Grab. After four years, Uber held just 25% of the market and was forced to sell its Southeast Asia business to Grab.

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Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

Learn how Uber's growth was fuelled by obsessive product focus, broken rules, growth at all costs and minimal bureaucracy from the book that inspired ...

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