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In focus
- Meet Hello, China’s latest robotaxi contender eyeing SEA
- Grab’s winning streak continues, and you can see its charts
- Doctor Anywhere confirms shutdown in Vietnam
Hello reader,
I was pleasantly surprised to find a bevy of ride-hailing choices when I landed in Jakarta’s airport last week. Promo codes were offered by Gojek, Grab, and Bluebird. In the Philippines, Grab is the only ride-hailing platform prominently advertised in Manila’s international airport.
The stark differences between these two Southeast Asian capitals show the dominance of Grab, as well as its efforts to fight off smaller competitors. Pretty soon, however, it may run into another heavyweight rival in the region – this time, from China.
Our first top story discusses the ambitious plan of Shanghai-based Hello as it aims to transition from being a mere ride-hailing and bike-sharing platform into an operator of on-demand autonomous vehicles (AVs).
The CEO of its self-driving unit tells Tech in Asia that it also wants to expand to Southeast Asia and the Middle East as soon as 2027. Backed by big names like ecommerce giant Alibaba and major battery maker CATL, Hello certainly has the war chest to chase this goal.
And as competitors inch toward its dominant position, Grab is busy getting profitable. The giant has managed to keep itself in the black in Q3 as it hit its fifth consecutive quarter of net profitability, as shown in our second top story, which depicts Grab’s financial charts.
Not everyone’s prospects are as rosy, though. Telehealth-focused startup Doctor Anywhere recently had to close its Vietnam operations. But it’s keeping the fight in its other locations, which include Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.
There really is no place like Southeast Asia. It attracts and makes big winners, sure, but the path to get there can get especially tough, especially for smaller players.
Elyssa Lopez, journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ China’s Hello blends Tesla’s speed with Waymo’s caution
Image credit: Arsal Ysfin
Unveiled in September, Hello’s self-driving prototype is packed with cameras and sensors reminiscent of Waymo’s “sensor fusion” system. At the same time, it mirrors Tesla’s strategy of training vehicles on vast amounts of driving data.
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