> One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty.It may not warrant as much customer loyalty as - say - Apple, but "zero" is simply untrue. To give a most ovious example, in a foreign country/city I'd be strongly inclined to choose Uber over other alternatives because I'm already familiar with it.
For the same reason why I'd eat at McDonald's (rather than some local hot-dog stand): not quality, but safety. I see the risk that I get scammed / food-poisoned as lower.
> Uber has only made finding the ride more efficient but it has not made the actual ride itself more efficient.
It has, to some extent: in the form of shared rides. Traditional taxi companies don't provide such option, for fairly obvious reasons.
> And what if there are robot drivers? Wouldn’t that eliminate at least the human cost? It would. But it would do so for every other transport company as well, and by the same amount.
Not if you've got your own IP behind it - whereas your competitors need to rely on third-party solutions - or even if you can get a better deal on a third-party solution.
> Uber would still be fighting the same competitors in a similar race to the bottom. In summary, nothing can save Uber.
The exact same case could be made for Burger King.
It's quite possible that nothing can save Uber, it's clearly struggling, but I don't think your reasoning correctly sums up actual causes of that.
It may not warrant as much customer loyalty as - say - Apple, but "zero" is simply untrue. To give a most ovious example, in a foreign country/city I'd be strongly inclined to choose Uber over other alternatives because I'm already familiar with it.
For the same reason why I'd eat at McDonald's (rather than some local hot-dog stand): not quality, but safety. I see the risk that I get scammed / food-poisoned as lower.
> Uber has only made finding the ride more efficient but it has not made the actual ride itself more efficient.
It has, to some extent: in the form of shared rides. Traditional taxi companies don't provide such option, for fairly obvious reasons.
> And what if there are robot drivers? Wouldn’t that eliminate at least the human cost? It would. But it would do so for every other transport company as well, and by the same amount.
Not if you've got your own IP behind it - whereas your competitors need to rely on third-party solutions - or even if you can get a better deal on a third-party solution.
> Uber would still be fighting the same competitors in a similar race to the bottom. In summary, nothing can save Uber.
The exact same case could be made for Burger King.
It's quite possible that nothing can save Uber, it's clearly struggling, but I don't think your reasoning correctly sums up actual causes of that.