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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Apple company invests $1B in Didi Chuxing, China’s biggest ride-hailing app

Apple made the bombshell announcement today it has invested $1 million in China’s top trip hailing app. Didi Chuxing (formerly called Didi Kuaidi) is usually described in U. Utes. media as Uber’s Chinese language rival, but it already dominates the marketplace by far. The company claims this fulfilled one billion rides this past year and holds 87 percent from the country’s private ride-hailing marketplace.

In an interview along with Reuters, Apple CEO Ricky Cook said, “We are making the investment for several strategic reasons, including an opportunity to learn more about certain segments from the China market. Of program, we believe it will deliver a powerful return for our invested capital too. ”

Didi Chuxing told Reuters this is its single biggest round of funding to date. It claims to currently complete a lot more than 11 million rides each day and have over fourteen million drivers on it's platform. The company’s additional major investors include Tencent as well as Alibaba, two of China’s biggest Internet companies, and SoftBank.

Based on a WSJ report through February, the company was then along the way of finalizing a circular for $1 billion in a valuation of $20 million. A Didi Chuxing consultant said Apple’s investment is the main same round, but declined to verify the valuation. TechCrunch has also emailed Apple to learn more.

In a press discharge, Didi Chuxing founder as well as CEO Cheng Wei stated, “The endorsement from Apple is definitely an enormous encouragement and inspiration for the four-year-old company. DiDi works hard with our motorists, riders and global companions, to make available in order to every citizen flexible as well as reliable mobility choices, as well as help cities solve transport, environmental and employment problems. ”

China is coming to becoming Apple’s greatest iPhone market, but the organization has faced a couple of recent setbacks there. After years of giving it a comparatively free rein for the U. S. tech organization, the Chinese government purchased the closure of iBooks Shop and iTunes and Movies just 6 months after the services released in China.

Furthermore, while Apple’s sales in China continue to be growing, it’s at a a lot slower rate than before since the Chinese economy becomes sluggish and also the smartphone market in common faces less demand. Concerns about Apple’s dependence on China prompted activist shareholder Carl Icahn to market his entire stake within the company earlier this 12 months.

Investing in Didi Chuxing allows Apple to seize a foothold in the actual Chinese tech market which reaches beyond iPhones-and also gives it a brand new platform for its additional technology. For example, in the event that Didi Chuxing uses CarPlay, that provides Apple another outlet to market software services in China near the iPhone, as well because valuable data to customize apps and maps with regard to Chinese users. Didi Chuxing can also be a major potential client once Apple’s self-driving car involves fruition.

Techsourcenetwork