5 images explain Apple’s $billion Didi deal

Just a few weeks ago Apple made waves when it pumped a billion dollars into China’s equivalent of Uber, Didi. Here’s why the investment matters in five pictures taken from KPCB’s incredibly interesting Internet Trends 2016 report.

Think about the costs of car ownership

Cars cost a lot to run. Why not share them?

China is the global leader in use of car sharing services. Didi is China’s leading service.

China (and India) will be critical markets that define the future of personal transportation.

Just look how rapidly on-demand transportation is taking off in China compared to the rest of the world

However, China its already defining the concept with on-demand transportation climbing higher fast. And Apple has an interest here.

These are some of the reasons people choose to use Uber.

If Apple decides to get into car sharing it’s going to need to deal with Uber. It will get better deals with a little leverage.

But everything is at stake:

What is a car? Tech firms are attempting to answer the question. Apple clearly has some ideas…

What’s at stake is a chance to define the future of the car — Tesla offers cars to rich people; Apple appears to be planning cars for the rest of us…

You can read lots more about the Apple implications here.

Wrong or right, this story will run and run.