Uber might seem ubiquitous in the US, but its CFO says the company has lots of room to grow.
Across the 10 largest countries where Uber operates, about 15% of adults use either Uber for ride-hailing or delivery, Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah said during a presentation at UBS’ Global Technology and AI Conference on Wednesday. Uber and other consumer-focused companies often refer to this metric as “market penetration.”
Uber’s market penetration in the US “is right in line with that 15% average,” Mahendra-Rajah said. That means that Uber has yet to reach many customers in the country where it was founded, he said.
To Uber investors, that number might seem small given how prevalent Uber has become in many parts of the country, Mahendra-Rajah said at the conference.
Indeed, for many people who live in large US cities and turn to the app for rides to the airport or meal delivery, using Uber — or a rival app, such as Lyft or DoorDash — has become a habit.
But not everyone in the US uses Uber so frequently — or at all, Mahendra-Rajah said.
Among Uber investors, “it’s often a view of: ‘There is no way I could use Uber anymore than I am, and there’s no way my children can order Uber Eats more than they already do,'” he said.
“But you are really a unique case compared to the US average,” he said. “That’s why we remain very optimistic.”
Uber has already built big businesses in ride-hailing and delivery. Still, there are multiple areas where it’s trying to grow.
While many urbanites already use the app, Uber is also trying to get more users in the suburbs to turn to the app for rides to dinner or deliveries from Costco. Ride-hailing trips from suburbs — or “sparser markets,” as Uber executives have called them — make up about 20% of Uber’s total trips, Mahendra-Rajah said earlier this year.
Rural areas, where ride-hailing trips and delivery distances tend to be longer, have also been relatively recent focuses for the apps.
Uber Eats is also adding more supermarket chains and other retailers as partners to expand its delivery business, Mahendra-Rajah said on Wednesday.
Uber is also getting into the AI training business. Its AI Solutions arm has headhunted some white-collar workers with PhDs for gigs, such as its Project Sandbox — though it ended contracts for that project early, Business Insider reported last month.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on Uber’s November earnings call that the company’s expansion into AI training is part of its aim to become a broader “platform for work.”
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