Yup. You read that right. If you’re Vietnamese American, you probably don’t believe it, but it’s true, Uber has launched in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. That’s just three months after launching in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam’s largest city.
Hanoi is a vastly different city from Ho Chi Minh city, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Ho Chi Minh city is mainly dominated by two major taxi companies: Mai Linh and Vinasun. These two companies have been battling it out for market share for years. Vinasun has been winning this battle as Mai Linh almost faced a bankruptcy last year. Uber, with its better service (cleaner cars, GPS locations, no cash, etc.), has slowly made an impact on the taxi business and is no doubt one reason why it is being investigated by the Vietnamese government. After all, Mai Linh and Vinasun both make deals with various buildings, malls, and apartment complexes to specifically service them. Uber’s call on demand cuts into this.
But the story is very different for Hanoi. Hanoi isn’t dominated by one taxi company, but is a jungle of taxi companies. There’s no clear winner. Uber is now stepping into a market where taxis are scarce and unorganized.
In terms of taxi booking apps, Uber will be up against GrabTaxi and EasyTaxi. GrabTaxi entered Hanoi months ago and has hundreds of cars on its app, making it very easy to book a taxi in Hanoi. GrabTaxi and EasyTaxi are also positioned very well in Hanoi since the market is so fragmented. Whereas in Ho Chi Minh city, Vinasun has responded to taxi drivers using the taxi booking apps by firing them. Thus, Uber and the two leading booking apps face very different markets in both cities.
Editing by Paul Bischoff
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