Uber is warning that Google and Apple's collective dominance over the app economy poses a potential big risk to its business.
Uber is also reliant on Google Maps to function, and paid some $58 million to Google to use the technology between 2016 and 2018. The warning highlights the near-total dependence modern app developers have today on the proprietors the Android and iOs app stores. Both companies take a standard 30% cut of most transactions, and these apps are entirely at the mercy of each store's rules on what is and isn't allowed — a state of affairs that has sparked increasing resentment in the digital industry in recent years.
"We rely upon certain third parties to provide software for our products and offerings, including Google Maps for the mapping function that is critical to the functionality of our platform," it writes."We do not believe that an alternative mapping solution exists that can provide the global functionality that we require to offer our platform in all of the markets in which we operate ...