Do you really want every one of their lines to ring whenever you invite them to a call? If I’m the callee, the answer is a definite “no.”įurthermore, for the moment, UberConference limits you to instant conference calls you can’t schedule them for, say, 30 minutes from now, or 10 a.m. Think about it: It’s a good bet that you have both office and mobile numbers for most of your co-workers, right? Maybe you even have some home numbers mixed in there as well. Consequently, your invitees get blasted all at once via phone, e-mail, and SMS, and the phone call might not even go to the correct line. However, and here’s where the app is immediately frustrating, you can’t designate what methods to use to notify these contacts (only email, for example), nor can you specify which phone number the service should use for any given contact. Everyone you select will then get a call, email, and/or text message (depending on what contact information you have for them) inviting them to the conference-no PINs or registration required. The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article.įind out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.From there, setting up a call is literally as easy as choosing attendees from that list, then tapping Start UberConference. Learn more and start a seven-day free trial today. Get access to full Morningstar stock analyst reports, along with data and tools to manage your portfolio through Morningstar Investor. This article was compiled by Muskaan Hemrajani. Uber’s public perception has suffered in recent years because of data breaches, a culture of sexual misconduct, and internal racial discrimination issues.Ride-hailing is still a relatively new industry, which leaves plenty of room for new regulations that could hurt Uber.The development of autonomous vehicles, especially Google’s Waymo, could eliminate the need for existing ride-hailing platforms, driving Uber and Lyft out of business.Uber’s aggregation of multimodal offerings could drive in-app stickiness, making the firm a one-stop shop for all transport needs.Pressure to pay a minimum amount per trip to its contracted drivers could create a barrier to entry for smaller players, helping Uber in the long run.Uber’s position in the autonomous vehicle race could equalize gross and net revenue if it no longer needs to pay drivers.Read more about Uber’s risk and uncertainty. We note that both dominating firms in the U.S., Uber and Lyft, are likely to demand higher take rates. In our view, lack of compensation and/or benefits also constitute a human capital ESG risk, which could lead to drivers jumping to other platforms. Concerns include whether Uber will have to pay a minimum amount to each driver or courier per trip. Other regulatory issues may also serve to inhibit Uber’s network effect. At the same time, the firm’s increased gathering of driver and rider data may increase its environmental, social, and governance risk around data privacy and security. In addition, it remains possible that Lyft will out-innovate Uber to emerge as the leading ride-hailing provider. Uber faces intense competition in the United States from Lyft, which has gained market share. An example is the delivery market, where the company has gained traction with its Uber Eats service.Īs Uber benefits from its network effect, we think it gains access to valuable intangible assets in the form of user data, which we suspect helps the firm improve its services and increase its vehicle capacity utilization. In our view, Uber’s ride-hailing network effect has also helped the firm tap into other markets and generate additional revenue streams. Both customers and drivers can easily switch to Lyft or other competing platforms, while customers also have other transportation options like taxis and public transit. In our view, the ride-hailing industry lacks barriers to entry or exit. While Uber has benefited nicely from network effects, we don’t believe it benefits from customer switching costs. For this reason, we assign Uber a narrow moat rating.Īs the number of drivers has increased, the timeliness and reliability of the service has improved, boosting the number of users, which in turn attracts more drivers, all of which indicate a network effect. We think these maintainable competitive advantages will help Uber become profitable and generate excess returns on invested capital. In our view, Uber’s core ride-sharing platform benefits from network effects and valuable intangible assets in the form of user data.
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