Ridesharing Firm Didi's IPO Calamity Highlights Risks for Online Travel in China
Dennis Schaal
July 7th, 2021 at 2:30 AM EDT
Skift Take
Did Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Tripadvisor, Oyo, and Marriott, among others, squirm a bit upon learning of Chinese regulators' latest antitrust crackdowns, this time against ridesharing giant Didi and food-delivery and hotel booker Meituan? If not, they should.
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Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Executive Editor and online travel rockstar Dennis Schaal will bring readers exclusive reporting and insight into the business of online travel and digital booking, and how this sector has an impact across the travel industry.
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China's largest ridesharing company, Didi Global, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange a week ago, and promptly fell off a proverbial cliff, losing about one-fourth of its market value in the past five days, a victim of its own government's antitrust crackdown.
Chinese regulators, who have been going after online tech platforms since the spring, informed Didi on Friday that it was banning new downloads of its app in China because the company allegedly collected customers' personal information in violation of Chinese law.
Didi customers in China who already have the app on their phones for ridesharing and food delivery, among other mobility services, can continue using it, as can users in more than a dozen other countries outside the Chinese government's reaches. Didi generated the vast majority of its $6.4 billion first quarter revenue from its China operat
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