Uber heads for mega listing
It will be the biggest IPO this year, but questions remain around profitability and the way the company treats its drivers
scientists who might be using these machines to visualise data, run 3D modelling, and the like.
The flagship laptop in the range is the Concept D9, with a ninthgeneration Intel Core i9 processor, Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 graphics card and a Pantone-validated 4K ultra-hd display. These won’t hit shops for a number of months and price estimates hover around the $5,000 mark, but it points to specialisation as a trend that perhaps we didn’t see coming — especially if we’re taking our lead from smartphone trends.
Finally, as binge-watching and streaming media edge out oldschool broadcast TV, consumers demand more and more of their laptop screens. This may be one of the reasons OLED displays — with their fantastic deep blacks and bright colours — staged a slight comeback at the Las Vegas consumer-tech show CES in January.
This type of screen first cropped up a few years ago, but then seemed to fall out of favour. In Las Vegas this year, however, HP debuted its Spectre x360 with an OLED screen, and Laptop Mag reports that Dell and Razer will both have OLED laptops in their ranges this year.
The most astounding thing about Uber’s longawaited announcement of its listing is not its expected $100bn valuation, but the admission that it “may not achieve profitability”. For years the ride-sharing service was the world’s most valuable startup, and the poster child of the gig economy.
But the 10-year-old company has been beset by problems, from its toxic “tech bro” culture and sexual harassment of female employees to misgivings about its corporate governance. It had special software to thwart law enforcement agencies from catching rides (called Greyball), while employees could track individual users. Cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to resign after a video of his rant with an Uber driver went viral.
New CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has tried to reform all of that and convince investors it’s a different company which, like other loss-making tech giants, will become profitable after the floating. Its $100bn valuation means it’s worth more than General Motors and Ford combined. Its IPO will eclipse that of rival Lyft three weeks ago, which last Friday was trading 17% down from its opening price of $72 at $60. Its listing was “the worst thing to happen to the IPO market”, Thestreet.com said, calling it a “disaster”.
Some concern is obviously about Uber’s impending listing. But Uber’s own finances are astounding. In 2018 it had $11.27bn in revenue and losses of $1.85bn, according to its listing filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
It has been losing $800m a quarter. No wonder it warned: “We expect our operating expenses to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, and we may not achieve profitability.”
There is a fundamental problem with Uber, Lyft and the so-called gig economy. In the past, when someone worked for a company, that firm paid for the things an employee needed to do their job, including leave, health insurance and pension contributions — the traditional model. The gig economy supposedly changed that, with companies like Uber able to save on these expenses. But those costs of doing business and the benefits never went away. The gig economy transferred them to the workers and called them “partners”.
Only 4% of drivers stay on after a year, a 2017 report found, mostly because of pay. There are countless stories of drivers sleeping in their cars at conferences they travel to for fares, or stuck with driving because they needed to pay off the car. There are also countless court actions to get drivers reclassified as employees, among other legal challenges
As a consumer I love Uber; I can land in any country, open an app and get a reasonably priced ride. It’s not so good for an Uber driver.
The most profitable part of its business is Uber Eats. What does it say about our civilisation that the most valuable US start-up and biggest listing makes its money from takeaways?
The most valuable US start-up and biggest listing makes its money from takeaways