China’s fast-expanding bike-sharing startups ofo and Mobike both expanded to Singapore earlier this year, but it turns out that the local bike rental operator oBike is winning the local game.
Ofo officially launched its service in Singapore this February and saw a surge in the number of users, making it the fifth most downloaded app in April, according to SensorTower’s report. However, a number of downloads soon plummeted, making ofo the 34th most downloaded app in July.
On the other hand, Mobike is steadily growing but has yet to see any significant performance. After entering Singapore in March, it has seen a slowly growing number in downloads—turning out to be the 31st most downloaded app in July.
However, Singapore’s local oBike has been leading the race, remaining within the top five most downloaded app since launching in February.
The two Chinese bike rental startups have been aggressively expanding overseas, so far entering Japan, Thailand, UK, the U.S., and Italy aside from Singapore. Going global, as fancy as it may sound, is actually challenging especially when you have to adapt to different user habits, address local regulations, and compete with local rivals. It’s hard to say if locals would be willing to use these bike rental services, but for now, it’s obvious that Singaporeans favor their local operator.
