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Hi readers,
It has been said that history is written by the victors. To that, one can add “and profit is made by the winners.”
From Uber in the US to Grab in Southeast Asia, dominant mobility and food delivery platforms are finding their stride and hitting various profitability metrics – “finally,” some would say.
Meanwhile, shares of Lyft – Uber’s ride-hailing rival in the US – fell over 7% after it published its latest quarterly results, which raised concerns over its strategy to gain market share by matching Uber on pricing. It’s no surprise, then, that players with smaller market shares are trying to derive benefits from scale by working with each other.
In Singapore, for example, Deliveroo, one of the delivery platforms in the city-state, has teamed up with Gojek’s mobility business to offer savings and rewards to customers.
The bigger story, however, is about Uber and Grab and their journeys to profitability. The two are intertwined. Grab acquired Uber’s Southeast Asian business in 2018, and the latter remains a significant shareholder of the former.
Yet, amid the celebrations, another saying comes to mind: heavy is the head that wears the crown. When you’re at the top, the only way to go is down, and incumbents will have to constantly be on the lookout for new threats.
— Simon Huang, journalist at Tech in Asia
Top stories this week
Image credit: Timmy Loen
1️. Uber’s path to profit: a roadmap for Grab?
Morgan Stanley analysts expect Grab to record adjusted EBITDA of US$137 million in 2024, but that’s likely to fall short of GAAP profitability.
2. Charting the SaaS landscape in Indonesia (Updated)
Amid the funding crunch, 2022 saw a 38% decrease in total investments for the country’s SaaS sector.
3. From living ‘hand to mouth’ to being ‘old friends’ with Ray Dalio: Ng Kok Song’s path to presidential hopeful
Ng Kok Song has spent years as a card-carrying member of the Singapore establishment. Now, can he take on the establishment candidate for president?
4. What GoPay’s new standalone app says about GoTo’s ‘super-app’ strategy
The GoPay app is up to a quarter of the size of the Tokopedia and Gojek apps and sports a “simple and user-friendly” design.
Navigating Singapore’s shifting news horizons: a fireside chat with Tech in Asia’s editorial experts
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