In Depth: Rival Ride-Hailing Apps Challenge Didi in World’s Biggest Market

The current state of China’s $30 billion ride-hailing market, the world’s largest, is reminiscent of the dotcom craze of the late 1990s, when many tech hopefuls launched startups that were unprofitable but still managed to win enormous valuations based on the number of customers or eyeballs they could pull in.

Despite losing money, many companies are driving headlong into China’s ride-hailing market, worth an estimated 249.9 billion yuan ($34.6 billion) in 2020, according to the Internet Society of China. Chinese companies like AutoNavi Holdings Ltd., Meituan, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. have been eating into the market share of the dominant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Ltd.