Meituan and Uber stand as two of the world’s most influential internet giants, matching each other in scale, revenue, and market capitalization. Despite different origins in China and the United States, respectively, their similarities in product offerings and business scope create a natural rivalry.
However, Meituan’s performance in the ride-hailing sector lags behind Uber’s. In China, brands like Didi and Gaode command greater influence in the market.
Uber has piloted various travel-related services across regions, such as train tickets, ferry rides, airport transfers, and concierge services. These initiatives can be broadly categorized into two segments: ride-hailing and car rental.
In the ride-hailing segment, Uber has enhanced its core services to cater to tourism needs. Passengers can access real-time insights on average wait times and fares in destination cities, along with airport transfer recommendations based on flight schedules. For the car rental segment, Uber has partnered with car-sharing platform Turo.
Meituan’s hotel and travel offerings have historically lacked a comprehensive local life services approach, making them resemble a price-sensitive version of Trip.com.
However, since 2024, Meituan has further integrated marketing efforts of its delivery and travel businesses, consolidating budget-hotel and lifestyle services.
Airbnb, in a similar vein, announced during its Q3 2024 earnings call that it plans to blend local life services with travel offerings.
Uber’s investor report highlights six high-growth potential markets: Spain, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Japan, and South Korea. While Meituan’s immediate focus may not extend to Europe or South America, Japan and South Korea remain plausible battlegrounds.
However, Uber’s market share in these regions is minimal, facing stiff competition from dominant local players such as Kakao in South Korea (with over 90% market share) and JapanTaxi in Japan, limiting the scope for direct confrontation.
Despite these divergent paths, the Middle East emerges as the most likely theater for the first significant clash between Uber and Meituan, especially when factoring in their acquired subsidiaries.
