Uber rakes in a dozen times more in revenue than Lyft according to a new report from stock management startup FutureAdvisor. According to the "exclusive data" FutureAdvisor used, Uber provides more than seven times as many car rides, and charges on average $8 more per ride, $21 compared to $13 for Lyft. Customers spent$28.6 million on Uber and Lyft for the period of June 2013 to May 2014, with $26.4 million of that making up Uber's revenue and only $2.2 million going to Lyft. Uber is valued at about $17 billion while Lyft is at $700 million, so the added comparison of revenue makes the competition status seem pretty starkly in favor of Uber for better or worse.
You have to wonder how much all of the accusations of sabotage and dirty tricks that Uber and Lyft sling against each other affect revenue. The fighting is only likely to grow fiercer though, as growth starts to slow in new markets and the companies try to outflank each other within the cities they are operating.
"As services, Uber and Lyft are both sticky. If either car service can convince a consumer to take rides in two of the first four months, there’s more than an 80 percent chance that that person will become a long-term customer," the report explains. "Only 2.5 percent of all riders used both services during the period studied. For both Lyft and Uber, that means further U.S. growth can only be accelerated if its competition disappears, which helps explain their intense rivalry as well as Uber’s expansion abroad."
Part of the reason Uber might be so far ahead is simply that it was founded three years earlier than Lyft. Still, Lyft clearly isn't giving up on efforts to beat back Uber and take some of its market share. Uber is adding new riders much faster than Lyft though, there must be some point where it becomes futile. Uber added between 6,200 and 7,300 new customers a month in 2014, compared to between 1,100 and 1,500 by Lyft.
According to a statement Lyft sent to Wired, the FutureAdvisor report doesn't actually account for the company's growth. This past May Lyft grew by 40 percent, not 10 percent. Even with that caveat though, it looks like it will be a hard slog for Lyft to catch up to Uber. One can only hope that at least the illegal and shady methods will start to go away, if only because of a need for good public relations and giving a solid return on investment.
"Uber has raised $1.5 billion from investors such as Menlo Ventures, Benchmark, Goldman Sachs and Jeff Bezos," the report states. "Of that, $1.2 billion was raised in its Series D in June. Lyft has raised $333 million from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and GSV Capital, including a Series D of $250 million in April. Investment size is often an indicator of growth, as venture capital funds chase returns."
