This year could be Uber's fate in Southeast Asia

Uber just pointed Monika Rudijono as the new President Director for Indonesia. Nevertheless, facing 2018, the road is steep and winding for this startup founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, especially for the Southeast Asian market.

Despite being mighty in many countries, Uber faces fierce competition in the Asian region. His intense competition with DiDi Chuxing in China which ended with Uber leaving the country is one proof that technological superiority alone is not enough. He has to deal with local players and regulators in order to dominate the transportation market on-demand.

Local culture

Looking back, Uber's solution is actually praised as one of the solutions that can help the community. They are here to revolutionize the way Americans transport. Uber also went global and began to be present everywhere, including European and Asian countries.

Rejection occurred in various places. At the same time, local players are starting to develop similar services with a local wisdom approach. In Southeast Asia itself, especially in Indonesia, Uber is still lagging behind its competitors, Go-Jek and Grab.

Signs of Uber's exit from the competition for transportation services on-demand in Southeast Asia emerged when last November Softbank officially provided an injection of funds to Uber. Softbank's move has led to speculation that Grab and Uber is not going to compete and one has to opt out. In this case Uber has a bigger chance to leave this area.

Two of the major issues holding Uber back in Southeast Asia are adapting to local regulations and markets. We have to admit that the different cultures between the United States and Southeast Asia are a chore for Uber to complete.

Uber entered Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, with something visionary. They were greeted with joy by consumers but at the same time experienced upheaval on the streets. They were rejected by most of the conventional transportation fleets, which ultimately forced the government to regulate. Can guessed, Uber became "governed uber-uber".

As a startup, Uber really shows how a Silicon Valley company can grow and explore potential new markets. Nonetheless, in Southeast Asia, Uber has had to go the extra mile to survive.

Uber is also a little late in understanding the Southeast Asian market. In countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, motorcycle transportation modes are more widely used for various reasons, starting to break through traffic jams, relatively affordable prices, and much lower maintenance costs than cars.

Another adjustment that is considered quite slow is the payment method. While Uber ultimately provides the option of using cash, digital payment options that are cashless without a credit card is still very limited. Even though we know the percentage of credit card ownership in this area is very small.

Quoted from CNBC, after being "thrown out" of the Chinese market, Uber looks to focus on the Indian and Southeast Asian markets. So far, his efforts have been hampered by regulations in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. On the other hand, Grab and GO-JEK is aggressively expanding service diversification, including payment options.

Between Grab and GO-JEK

Now users of transportation services on-demand is being transformed. In Indonesia, GO-JEK and Grab both boost the use of their respective electronic money, GO-PAY and GrabPay.

If in the end SoftBank, now Uber's largest investor, decides to push for an operational fusion Grab and Uber in Southeast Asia, this would mark a tightening of competition in Indonesia, even though GO-JEK has plans to expand into neighboring countries.

The "green sea" on the streets was only the beginning of the rivalry between these two companies. Payment service competition becomes the next battlefield. In 2018, Go-Pay is ready to leave its ecosystem by acquiring payment gatewayoffline My card and online Midtrans as the vehicle. On the other hand, Grab cooperates with Ovo, which was developed by Lippo Digital, to continue its electronic money solution.

Uber, being between the two, is trying to take Tokopedia and BBM as partners. The year 2018 will be the deciding whether Uber will still survive in Indonesia (and Southeast Asia) or will have to settle for being a spectator on the sidelines.

- Amir Karimuddin contributed to writing this article