中國打車軟件大戰"熄火" 市場爭奪落下帷幕

China’s two biggest internet companies have called a truce after spending billions of renminbi in the past six months to grab market share in the nascent taxi-hailing app market.

在中國新興起的打車應用市場，兩大互聯網企業爲了搶佔市場份額，在半年時間裏耗資幾十個億人民幣，如今雙方終於宣告停火。

Alibaba and Tencent have treated savvy, smartphone-wielding Chinese to taxi rides, and lavished tips on taxi drivers, to drum up support for their respective taxi apps – Kuadi Dache (Alibaba’s “Swift taxi”) and Didi Dache (Tencent’s “honk honk taxi”).

阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和騰訊(Tencent)不僅掏錢請中國使用智能手機的精明消費者乘坐出租車，還慷慨補貼出租車司機，目的就是在用戶中間推廣各自的打車應用軟件——“快的打車”(Kuaidi Dache,部分屬於阿里巴巴所有)和“滴滴打車”(Didi Dache，部分屬於騰訊所有)。

Wang Jian, an expert on ecommerce from Analysys International, a Beijing consultancy, estimates that about Rmb2bn ($325m) was spent between January and June, but says that since then, both taxi apps have scaled back the massive subsidies they are paying. “The two sides have ceased fire,” she said, after battling to a stalemate with each claiming about half of the Chinese market.

北京諮詢公司易觀國際(Analysys International)電子商務專家王健估計，1-6月間雙方在這場對決中總共投入了大約20億元人民幣（合3.25億美元）。不過她表示，自那以來兩個打車應用都減少了大規模補貼。如今，在打成各佔一半市場的平局之後，“雙方已經停火”。

What one analyst likened to “the first battle in the world war of the internet” pitted two companies with deep pockets against each other. Shenzhen-based Tencent is Asia’s biggest listed internet company with a market capitalisation of $157bn, while Alibaba, the ecommerce juggernaut that values itself at $130bn, is set to list in the US this autumn.

有位分析師把這場較量稱爲“世界互聯網大戰的第一場戰役”，對陣的兩家企業都擁有雄厚財力。總部在深圳的騰訊是亞洲最大的上市互聯網公司，市值1570億美元。而電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴將於今年秋天在美國上市，該公司對自身的估值爲1300億美元。

Both Tencent and Alibaba have been competing on everything from instant messenger apps to restaurant review websites to rolling out virtual credit cards (both thwarted by the central bank) in an effort to dominate the coming era of the mobile internet. Over 500m Chinese say that they use their smartphones, which cost as little as $50, to get online.

爲了在即將到來的移動互聯網時代佔據優勢地位，從即時通信應用到餐廳點評網站，再到發佈虛擬信用卡（此類舉措遭到了中國央行的阻撓），騰訊和阿里巴巴在各個領域展開了全面競爭。目前最便宜的智能手機售價在50美元左右，超過5億中國人表示他們會使用智能手機上網。

But few price wars have been as expensive for business, and as lucrative for consumers, as the taxi app war.

不過，以企業付出代價之高、消費者獲利之豐厚而論，沒有哪次價格戰能比得上這次打車應用之戰。

The first shot was officially fired on January 10, the day Didi Dache first cut taxi fares and introduced the subsidy, after raising $100m that month from Tencent and CiticCapital.

這次價格戰的第一槍是在今年1月10日正式打響的，當天滴滴打車率先推出了乘車費用立減活動，實施了補貼政策。在此之前，滴滴打車剛剛在1月初從騰訊和中信資本(Citic Capital)籌集到1億美元。

The taxi war’s most brutal attrition phase was in Feb and March of this year, when millions of renminbi were filling the pockets of taxi drivers and news websites reported that some drivers were being rewarded Rmb100 to pick up a fare, about five times the going rate for a ride.

最爲慘烈的消耗戰階段是在今年2-3月期間，數百萬元人民幣流入了出租車司機的腰包。據多家新聞網站報道，部分出租車司機載一次客就可獲得100元人民幣補貼，這差不多是一般車費的5倍。

Getting a taxi in Beijing was nearly impossible without a smartphone, while Shanghai went so far as to ban taxi-hailing apps during rush hour at the end of February.

當時在北京幾乎到了沒有智能手機就打不到車的地步，而上海則在2月底禁止高峯時段使用打車軟件。

Wang Yu, who drives a Beijing taxi for the Jin Jian Taxi company, said “During the peak of the competition between Didi and Kuadi, taxi drivers stopped cruising around, looking for fares. We would all find a place to park and turn on the software. It was like this because the rewards were so high for both drivers and riders.”

北京金建出租車公司的司機王玉（音譯）表示：“在滴滴和快的競爭最激烈的時候，出租車司機乾脆不在街上轉悠拉活了。我們都會找個地方停下來，把打車軟件打開。出現這種情況，是因爲司機和乘客都能拿到很高的獎勵。”

Both apps paid riders a subsidy of Rmb10 per taxi ride, which would often be paid to the driver as a tip, on top of the driver subsidy of Rmb5, according to interviews with drivers. Both also had a tipping function that the customer could use to leave a tip of Rmb5 to Rmb20.

根據對司機的採訪，每趟車程這兩個應用都會給乘客10塊錢的補貼，這些錢往往會交給司機，作爲司機所獲5塊錢補貼之外的小費。此外，這兩個應用還都提供了小費功能，顧客可以用該功能留下5到20塊錢的小費。

For all the money spent, neither side managed convincingly to win. Each started the price war with about half the market, and each finished with about half, although Kuadi is slightly ahead according to Analysys International data.

雖然投入了巨資，雙方卻都沒有取得壓倒性勝利。價格戰伊始，雙方各佔大約一半市場；價格戰結束時，雙方依然各佔大約一半市場。不過根據易觀國際的數據，快的打車要略微領先。

By June 30 Didi had a market share of 45.6 per cent and was represented in 178 cities, while Kuadi had 53. 6 per cent and was in 306 cities.

截至6月30日，滴滴打車擁有45.6%的市場份額，覆蓋178個城市。而快的打車擁有53.6%的份額，覆蓋306個城市。

As of the beginning of August, both apps continue to pay taxi drivers token rates as a reward for using the software.

到8月初的時候，兩個應用還在向出租車司機支付象徵性的獎勵。

Didi pays roughly Rmb6 per three rides, according to a spokesman.

一位發言人表示，出租車司機通過滴滴打車每載客三次可拿到6元獎勵。

Mr Wang, the taxi driver, said that the bonus barely paid for the phone bill from a fare – it usually is necessary to call to find where the customer is standing.

上述的王玉師傅說，這個獎勵額度還抵不過電話費——司機往往得打電話才能確定乘客的具體位置。

“The amount is really very petty. Maybe the phone bill would be more than the Rmb2 reward for the ride,” he says.

他說：“這個獎勵額度太小了。光電話費可能就比兩塊錢的搶單獎勵高。”

“But I still use the software,” he says, adding that it reduces the amount of ‘empty cruising’ looking for fares. “It efficiently connects me with a taxi callers nearby.”

“不過我還是會用這個軟件。”他說因爲它減少了尋找乘客時的“空駛率”，“它有效地將我和附近想打車的乘客聯繫到一起。”

He says the app can bring in an extra Rmb30 to Rmb40 a day in fares. He says that he picks up about six or seven rides each day via the software.

他表示，打車應用一天能給他多帶來三、四十元的車費收入，自己每天通過打車軟件大概接六、七位乘客。

Both Kuadi and Didi have declared victory – Didi’s Zhou Li said that the data, which shows the app war to be a draw, was a “distortion” and that in reality Didi now has 68 per cent of the market.

快的和滴滴都宣佈獲得了勝利。滴滴的周莉表示，雖然數據顯示這場打車應用大戰以平局告終，但數據不真實，滴滴現在的市場佔有率其實是68%。

For Tencent, the prize is even bigger than just taxi customers – they have been trying to encourage people to use Tenpay, their PayPal-like online payment system, because Alibaba dominates online payments with its Alipay.

對騰訊來說，“戰利品”不僅僅是出租車乘客——他們一直努力鼓勵人們使用財付通（Tenpay，騰訊類似貝寶(PayPal)的在線支付系統），因爲就在線支付領域來說，阿里巴巴的支付寶(Alipay)處於領先地位。

Alibaba, meanwhile, has been at a disadvantage due to its lagging position in mobile chat, which is dominated by Tencent’s WeChat and QQ messengers, which many Chinese use as their first point of contact with the mobile internet.

而阿里巴巴的一個劣勢則是在手機聊天方面落後於騰訊，後者的微信(WeChat)和QQ是許多中國人使用移動互聯網進行聯繫的第一選擇。

Both are trying to get their customers hooked on online-to-offline payments, reckoned to be one of the most lucrative emerging mobile businesses.

雙方都在努力讓顧客迷上“線上到線下”（Online to Offline，即O2O）付款模式，據信這是最有利可圖的新興移動業務之一。

“After six months of promotional activities, we have formed a habit among drivers and consumers” said Ms Zhou, with more than 1bn users and 1m drivers working with the Didi software.

周莉說：“在進行了半年的促銷活動後，我們已經在司機和消費者中間培養起了一種習慣。”滴滴打車目前用戶超過1億，司機100萬以上。

But Ms Wang of Analysys International says that to keep people using the software the companies may have to think of other less expensive ways to drum up interest.

但易觀國際的王健表示，爲了讓人們繼續使用打車軟件，企業可能必須考慮其他沒那麼燒錢的方式來提高人們興趣。

“The subsidies were purely to obtain users. Now without monetary rewards, they will have to come up with other ways to keep the numbers from eroding” said Ms Wang.

王健說：“這些補貼純粹是爲了爭取用戶。如今沒了現金獎勵，他們必須想出別的辦法來阻止用戶數下降。”

Luxury moves

瞄準高端市場

In July, Kuadi Dache announced that it would be buying a fleet of luxury cars – BMW 5 series sedans and Audi A6’s – to complement its cheap and convenient taxi-hailing app, writes Charles Clover.

今年7月，快的打車宣佈將購買一批高檔車——寶馬5系和奧迪A6轎車，以補充其便宜、便捷的叫車應用。

Their target – San Francisco-based taxi app Uber Technologies Inc, which offers a premium service with luxury cars – has just formally launched its service in Beijing in mid-July, after launching in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen earlier in the year.

要效仿的目標是總部位於舊金山的租車應用優步(Uber)。優步提供豪華轎車出租的高級服務，今年早些時候在上海、廣州和深圳推出了叫車服務，並於7月中旬正式落戶北京。

Kuadi is creating a luxury-car service named “Yi Hao Zhuan che” in Chinese, which is aimed at Uber’s target high-end clientele.

快的打車正在打造一項名爲“一號專車”的豪車出租服務，目標對準了優步所針對的高端客戶。

Uber is not yet a huge factor in the Chinese online car hailing market, which is sewn up between Kuadi Dache and Didi Dache. Uber fares are multiples of the municipal taxis whose fares are held artificially low by government fiat, and it would be impossible to compete with taxis on price.

中國在線打車市場還是控制在快的打車和滴滴打車手裏，優步尚算不上重要力量。城市出租車的車費受到政府法令的人爲壓價，優步的收費是普通出租車的好幾倍，因此不可能與出租車展開價格競爭。所以優步目前在中國還沒像在歐美那樣遭到強烈抵制，而在西方許多城市，出租車司機工會齊心協力將優步排擠出市場。

That has meant that so far Uber has not seen the same backlash in China that it has in Europe and the US, where taxi-driver unions have made a concerted effort to keep it out of many cities.

但豪車服務——在高檔車裏還提供WiFi和報紙——或許能在中國租車市場的頂層消費者中間流行起來。而對優步來說，即便是一小塊中國市場都是它的一大步。中國是全球最大的智能手機市場。

But the luxury-car service, which offers WiFi and newspapers in the high-end cars, may yet catch on among the top segment of the market.

但優步也有成長的煩惱，優步應用在華運行基於谷歌(Google)地圖，而谷歌在中國從6月初就一直被封鎖，導致地圖有時不能正常加載。

For Uber, even a small chunk of China is a major step – China is the world’s largest smartphone market, with more than 500m Chinese saying that they use smartphones to access the internet.

優步的另一個障礙，是中國各大城市都有的一個特色：交通堵塞。在北京，車子到達顧客所在位置平均需要9分鐘，遠高於世界其他主要城市。優步希望奔馳E級或奧迪A6的吸引力將彌補等車的不快。