Hmnn, I think the fixed costs are only higher if you assume that most Uber drivers buy new cars to Uber -- is that true? If they don't then the fixed costs for an Uber/Lyft driver would be even lower than Walmart right?
I definitely agree with the rest of your comment -- but I think the affects of (1) and (2) might actually be net positives for Uber:
(1) More fleet for their self-driving efforts seem like not a bad thing, also I don't really want to do the numbers but the 10k spent in a year on the cars as capital instead of employee benefits might look at lot better on a balance sheet (especially tax wise).
(2) I think this is only true if the supply stays the same as now -- when people hear "oh uber pays more now", I think the supply might increase a little. The increased cost per worker will be spread over all the competition, and as long as the per-worker cost isn't too high for part-time vs contractor.
As an aside to all this, uber has also started (long ago?) charging people what it thinks they can afford so that's also a factor, it's not even a single consistent percentage anymore (if it ever was).
I think most buy/lease new cars, but it might be outdated; I think Uber used to have more restricted rules on the age of cars, but it seems nowadays they can be 10-15 years old.
(1) "10k spent in a year on the cars as capital instead of employee benefits" - Right, but nowadays they are spending on neither :)
(2) Right, but that means Uber can't take over the market. That's a pretty big blow.
I definitely agree with the rest of your comment -- but I think the affects of (1) and (2) might actually be net positives for Uber:
(1) More fleet for their self-driving efforts seem like not a bad thing, also I don't really want to do the numbers but the 10k spent in a year on the cars as capital instead of employee benefits might look at lot better on a balance sheet (especially tax wise).
(2) I think this is only true if the supply stays the same as now -- when people hear "oh uber pays more now", I think the supply might increase a little. The increased cost per worker will be spread over all the competition, and as long as the per-worker cost isn't too high for part-time vs contractor.
As an aside to all this, uber has also started (long ago?) charging people what it thinks they can afford so that's also a factor, it's not even a single consistent percentage anymore (if it ever was).