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Comment by throwawaybug | Hacker News Reader

They should buy Uber and Tesla. Both are in markets that shouldn't trigger antitrust concerns. Apple has a patent portfolio that would make the waymo lawsuit go away. Apple would get revenge on google for dicking it over with android vs the iPhone. It would acquire visionary leadership (Musk and Holden) and pragmatic/effective gets things done leadership (Kalanick). Musk+Kalanick = Steve Jobs. These two acquisitions would give them the car manufacturing, self driving car talent, and the market in ridesharing. SpaceX also makes sense since they have plans to put 4000+ satellites up which would erode the only other advantage Google has, which it it's network.

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Why would you buy Uber if you can get the same thing for 1/10th the price in Lyft? People actually like Lyft.

If you think Lyft is the same thing for 1/10th the price, then you're blinded by your distaste for Uber. Uber is global in scope. Uber is well ahead of Lyft in terms of getting control of their losses (IIRC from leaked financials from both companies, Lyft is losing money at more than twice the rate as Uber and Uber is closing the profitability gap faster). Uber serves many more markets such as food delivery and freight, so there are more growth opportunities. Uber is doing a ton of R&D in the self driving car space and has a lot of the talent in the market. Lyft is basically just copying Uber's lead. Once you get past the few vocal outrage culture people, lots of people like Uber too.

Basically Lyft is a plaything that only looks the same as Uber if you only consider the US market and picking up and moving people. Even then, it's a distant number two.

Is Uber's position defensible given a competitor with enough resources?

Who is that competitor and who would be the investors? Someone would need to invest billions to make a gamble that they could make a dent in marketshare vs Uber. That doesn't seem like great way to spend billions.

I doubt Musk would a) sell Tesla or b) come along with it.

Kalanick is the sort of walking PR disaster Apple's good at avoiding hiring.

Uber and competitors are essentially worthless without their mobile apps; I suspect such an acquisition would get blocked as anticompetitive. (or have some crazy terms associated with it)

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