apple didi billions ipo
2 years ago
Published June 16, 2021 by

How Apple made billions -- on paper -- in the Chinese ride sharing market

Didi Chuxing was valued at $20 billion in 2016 when Apple invested $1 billion in the company.

From the Wall Street Journal's "Didi Chuxing, China’s Ride-Hailing Giant, Unveils U.S. IPO Filing" posted last week:

Didi Chuxing Technology Co., the Chinese ride-hailing behemoth, made its IPO papers public on Thursday, setting the company up to raise billions and begin trading publicly in the U.S. in July.

Didi, which filed under its formal name of Xiaoju Kuaizhi Inc., could fetch a valuation upward of $70 billion, people familiar with the matter said, a number that could stretch even higher amid investors’ ravenous appetite for newly public, high-growth companies.

My take: According to Bloomberg Monday, Didi's valuation post-IPO could reach $100 billion, which would push Apple's stake to roughly $5 billion.

See also: Apple’s $1billion in Didi: What analysts are saying

3 Comments

  1. Romeo A Esparrago Jr said:
    I think back in 2017, Tim had stated that the investment was about Didi’s Big Data & algorithms, Didi’s IP about driving patterns, etc. Didi’s past-to-present valuation is a nice metric to measure Apple’s success in choosing the right investment, e.g benefiting Apple product areas like Maps and … uh … CarPlay 😉

    These are qualitative strategic investments, such as Apple’s recent commitment this year to increase US investments to $430B in the next 5yrs that not only benefits Apple but also infrastructure, technology that fosters innovation & creates jobs.

    The payoff isn’t just money and isn’t just to Apple. 🙂

    6
    June 16, 2021
  2. Thomas Williams said:
    Maybe we should take a closer look at the D1, DiDi Chuxing’s EV. Is BYD the sole partner in the smart steering, touchscreen and AI technologies included in this electric saloon built for ride-shares? DiDi already has 1 million EVs on its network.

    3
    June 16, 2021
  3. Jerry Doyle said:
    As Romeo says, “…these were and are qualitative strategic investments…” by Apple in Didi. Apple is investing in Chinese companies of value to Apple’s own strategic and qualitative strategies. Apple chose Didi over Uber for a reason. The CCP in the PRC wants foreign companies not just to make money in China, but also to invest in the country. This is smart of Apple, but perhaps adds fuel to protagonists (NYT) who denigrate Apple’s close working relationship with the CCP.

    2
    June 16, 2021

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