After two years of struggling to stay afloat, the U.S.-based food delivery service, Uber Eats, has finally decided to close its South Korean segment. The company made the decision after competition from other local food delivery apps became too much for the company.
Uber Eats remained as the fourth most popular food delivery app in South Korea despite months of aggressive advertising. Its main competitor, Baedal Minjok, holds a 75 percent market share, way larger than Uber Eats’s single-digit share.
The platform first tapped the South Korean market in August 2017. After two years, it will officially end all its activities this coming October 14, 2019. Users also received an email from Uber Eats this week announcing the move.
“After two years’ partnering with local restaurants to offer convenient, reliable food delivery, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Uber Eats in South Korea at the end of October 14, 2019,” said representatives of Uber eats.
Uber’s ride-hailing service will continue despite the departure of the service. Analysts, however, see a bleak future for the company due to oppositions from taxi drivers around the country. This opposition was the reason why Uber had to limit their offerings to premium taxi-hailing and taxi-hailing services in 2015.
Featured image grabbed from Uber Eats’s website.