Apple just dropped $1 billion against Uber, in favor of the ride sharing network's Chinese rival. It's the biggest single investment Didi Chuxing has received to date.
It might not have been an attempt to harm the service, but it certainly does anything except help Uber in a market where rival Didi Chuxing has established itself as the top ridesharing network in the country in just a few years' time.
"Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We are extremely impressed by the business they've built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."
Didi is the offspring of two ride hailing services created by China's homegrown powerhouses, Tencent and Alibaba. The power couple put their ride sharing app together to form Didi, which now delivers more than 11 million rides each day.
Uber's rival now holds about 87 percent of share of the market for ride-hailing services, and a 99 percent claim of the taxi-hailing market, according to the China National Network Information Center. It has 300 million users across 400 Chinese cities, while Uber is aiming to hit its first 100 cities in the country by the end of the year.
Apple's endorsement is "an enormous encouragement and inspiration" for the four-year-old Didi Chuxing, said Cheng Wei, its founder and CEO.
"Didi will work hard with our drivers, riders and global partners, to make available to every citizen flexible and reliable mobility choices, and help cities solve transportation, environmental and employment challenges," Wei said.
The billion-dollar investment comes as Apple seeks to shake off declining demand for its core money maker, the iPhone, and grow other revenue streams to power its growth amidst the downturn. However, the decision to put its money behind Didi could somehow play into Apple's other long term plans, namely Project Titan.
Uber and Apple are expected to someday go head-to-head, as their driverless car ambitions put them on the same road. Up until now, only Uber was heavily invested in ride share services.
If Apple's driverless car initiative plays out like some pundits anticipate, users of Apple cars will hire them over a ride sharing network instead of owning them. Now, it has just invested $1 billion in support of such a network.
