There is always conflict between the old and the new. Perhaps that is because the new is far from familiar. Uber is one of prolific subjects of controversy worldwide. Disruption inevitably follows the advancement of information technology and digital mobile technology, as most prominently shown by the example of Uber and the way it has shaken up different markets. Those opposing Uber say that it could wipe out the traditional taxi industry, while those who support it argue that it represents a new innovation that is a natural consequence of new technology development. As such, people have to embrace it.

It is the same story in China, albeit with different companies. Various taxi applications have been introduced within China since 2012 and people in China now book, pay for taxi journeys and rate their ride. In this episode, I'd like to introduce a few of the most popular taxi applications available in China and share the market outlook.

If you have been to Shanghai or Beijing on a business trip, I guess you must have experienced how difficult it can be to get a taxi in China. People can easily wait 10-20 minutes to find a taxi during rush hour. It gets worse when it rains.

Given this difficulty, smart Chinese businessmen saw a great business opportunity. Beginning in 2012, various taxi applications have been launched in China.

The Chinese taxi application shows your current location, the closest available taxis, their type, license plate and information about the driver. You can even book a taxi when you want to travel long distances. For example, any passenger who wants to get to an airport or train station early in the morning can book a taxi the night before by simply pressing the booking button.

An on-demand private car booking service named Zhuan Che was recently launched in China. It is similar to Uber in that anyone can register themselves as a driver and pick up passengers. And passengers can choose the type of car, such as sedan, full-size van and BMW. This application offers many discount coupons to lead passengers to use the service as part of a platform that is beneficial to both drivers and passengers. It also conducts a mobile survey through which passengers can evaluate the service through their time on the car, hygienic conditions and how well the driver drives the car. With this evaluation, the application provides information about taxi drivers and cars to passengers so that they would not worry about their safety.

The two applications have invested huge amounts of money to outrun each other. Competition seems to be overheating, but there are positive reviews that the rivalry between them has led to the development and growth of the taxi application market.

Didi Dache has received about 818 million dollars from Tencent and Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund, while Kuaidi Dache has raised about 4 million dollars from Alibaba and 500 million dollars from SoftBank (a Japanese bank) in financing. Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache ranked 2nd and 3rd in terms of venture capital flow into China (total 15.5 billion dollars) in 2014, leading to a boom in the Chinese venture investment market. (Note: Xiaomi ranked 1st with 1.1 billion dollars in total investment received)

While Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache continue to fight against each other, the global taxi application Uber is gearing up to enter the Chinese market in partnership with Baidu, the largest portal site in China. Baidu has invested up to 600 million dollars into Uber in a deal with the U.S. firm. Uber has also shown its will to raise 1.2 billion dollars in order to expand business into Asia, and marked China as its main target.

At the moment, Chinese Internet service providers and venture investors are pouring into this area an astronomical amount of money under the expectation that Chinese forwarding agents will make use of mobile platform.

Chinese ICT companies are strengthening their presence across various areas and expanding their service, financial firepower and business portfolios. BAT are fighting hard to survive the money war, but globally, the competition seems fair and healthy.

We are living in the world where we could shop online from sites abroad using smart phones and regulate the temperature in your house while still in the office. This remarkable world has come about thanks to the IoT (Internet of Things).

In many countries, people are chanting 'Say No to Uber' to fight the introduction of the new Uber service. But even when Uber is thrown out, it is obvious that second and third Uber will appear again. Looking at the Chinese taxi industry in 2015, the war between Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache triggered competition amongst BAT, which will in turn lead to new industrial innovations.

Companies in competition will inevitably have to provide services of better quality and improve customer satisfaction. And they will grow stronger through fierce competition and expand their presence across the world in the way that they have survived and succeeded in China. I look forward to seeing who has the last laugh and hope that AMOREPACIFIC Group survives and grows ever stronger in this age of limitless competition.