被滴滴收購后，優步中國正走向安樂死

全世界各個地區、各個國家的優步APP界面和功能都一樣。而如今，中國的優步APP卻與其他地區都不同。

收購優步的中國區業務三個月后，收購方滴滴出行表示，新版優步APP將于下個月上線，該新版APP不支持英文版本，不能使用國外發行的信用卡，且在中國以外地區也無法使用。換言之，該打車應用就像這個國家的互聯網一樣：與外界隔絕。

盡管滴滴與優步中國達成交易時是圍繞“合并”進行談判的，但事實是滴滴收購了優步。滴滴作為收購方，完全有權改變其品牌，甚至將其納入自己麾下。但收購之時，滴滴表示，優步將保持“品牌和運營獨立性”，且“乘客將繼續獲得穩定服務”。新版APP雖與早先聲明相違背，卻是由多方面因素導致的。

在世界范圍內，中國打車應用公司之間的競爭都是相當激烈的。為吸引司機和乘客而提供的補貼和折扣讓優步一年虧損約10億美元（滴滴虧損更大）。在此情況下，兩家公司應對雙方8月1日達成的交易感到滿意：優步停止了在中國的“放血”行為，而滴滴則收購了第二大土豪競爭對手。

優步中國一直以來獨立于優步全球運營。然而，滴滴收購該公司后，不得不重新處理優步中國與優步全球總部之間的法定權利和知識產權交易。例如，在中國境內使用國外發行的信用卡進行支付的系統，是優步全球與其支付合作伙伴共同建立的。

滴滴放眼全球尋求發展，也愿意接受國外發行的信用卡。但其中的法定權利需進行調整，并重新修訂。公司表示，兩個月的時間不足以完成所有“跨境法律事務和知識產權協調?！苯裉?，滴滴宣布在中國推出新版APP，并將于明年年初將推出另一版APP，將一些功能添加回去。同時，滴滴將于今年年底將優步中國從收購前的60個城市推廣至400個城市。

然而，優步中國的日子并不好過。本月初，優步中國負責人辭職。用戶抱怨使用優步APP的司機減少了，因此需要等待比以前多三倍到四倍的時間才能打到車。同時，司機也抱怨用戶變少了。一位名為彭飛（音）的北京司機昨日說，“與之前大不相同了?！庇捎谘a貼額度和乘客數量均下降了，他的收入也比前幾個月遜色不少。似乎網絡效應的對立面正在侵蝕優步在中國的地位。

兩年前，滴滴和快的合并時也發生了類似的情況，滴滴很快打破了保持快的以“獨立實體”運營的承諾。

盡管優步中國可能于明年推出新版APP，但到那時，它或許沒那么重要了。（財富中文網）

譯者：司慧杰/汪皓

Everywhere in the world, from country to country, Uber’s app looks and works the same. Everywhere now except China.

Three months after Uber’s China division was acquired by Didi Chuxing, the conqueror said Uber’s new app, out next month, wouldn’t include English, wouldn’t accept foreign credit cards, and wouldn’t be usable outside of China. In other words, ridesharing is beginning to look a lot like China’s Internet: walled off from the rest of the world.

For all the ‘merger’ talk around the time of its deal with Uber China, Didi Chuxing did in fact acquire Uber China. As the acquirer, it has every right to change the brand, or even subsume it into its own. But at the time of the acquisition, it said Uber would keep “independent branding and business operations” for the “continuity of service for passengers.”The new app version contradicts its earlier statements. But there are reasonable explanations why.

The competition between ridesharing companies was among the world’s fiercest in China, where Uber was estimated to be losing $1 billion a year (and Didi even more) because of subsidies and discounts to gain drivers and users. In this environment, both companies had reason to be happy with their Aug. 1 deal: Uber stopped the bloodletting in China, and Didi took over the deep-pocketed No. 2 player in its market.

Uber China always operated as a separate entity fromUber’s international parent. Still, when Didi inherited the company, it had to rework the legal rights and intellectual property deals Uber China had with international Uber. Foreign credit card payments inside China, for instance, were set up with Uber global’s payment partners.

Didi’s ambitions today extend outside China, and it wants to accept foreign credit cards. But those legal rights need to be restructured and redrafted. Two months hasn’t been enough time to handle the “cross-border legal and intellectual property rights coordination,” according to the company.Today, Didi says the new Uber app launching in China will be followed by another early next year, one with some features added back in. In the meantime, Didi is expanding Uber China into 400 cities by the end of this year, up from 60 before it was acquired.

Still, Uber China’s days look numbered. Earlier this month, the head of Uber China resigned. Users now complain about wait times three to four times longer because of fewer drivers using the system. Drivers, meanwhile, complain about fewer users. “It’s not the same as before,” one Beijing driver named Peng Fei said yesterday. He’s making far less money than a few months ago because of fewer subsidies and riders. It seems the opposite of the network effect is eroding Uber’s relevance in China.

The same thing happened two years ago when rivals Didi and Kuaidi Dache merged in China, and promises of keeping “independent entities” were soon broken.

While another Uber China app version may roll out next year, by then it might not matter much.