Uber is set to pull out its restaurant delivery business, Uber Eats, in South Korea this year after facing stiff competition in the country, Reuters reported.
Photo credit: Uber
“After two years partnering with local restaurants to offer convenient, reliable food delivery, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Uber Eats in South Korea at the end of October 14, 2019,” Uber Eats Korea said in a statement. It did not disclose its reasons for terminating the service.
Uber, however, said it will still continue its taxi-hailing business in the country.
The firm, which filed its long-awaited initial public offering earlier this year, launched its food delivery service in South Korea in 2017. With the move, Uber looked to capitalize on the booming industry.
According to Statista’s most recent report, revenue in the online food delivery segment in the country amounts to US$2 billion in 2019 and is expected to rise to a little over US$3 billion by 2023.
The number of users also increased from 8.8 million in 2017 to roughly 12 million this year, and it is anticipated to balloon to about 17.3 million in 2023.
Uber Eats’ most formidable competition in the country is homegrown food delivery app Baedal Minjok, operated by app developer Woowa Brothers, with a 55.7% market share, according to a report. It’s followed by two platforms owned by German company Delivery Hero, Yogiyo (33.5%) and Baedaltong (10.8%).
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