Last year, we wrote about the peculiar incident that ruined Bluegogo, a once promising Chinese bike sharing startup.
Some readers recently sent us some pictures from Beijing, asking: “It seems Bluegogo has resurrected?”
Well, the fact is, since January, Bluegogo has been taken over by Didi.
Now Didi app is the only way for users to unlock Bluegogo bikes in Beijing.
Why would Didi take over a hopeless (and by then already dead) player? The answer lies with the quota authorities in major cities in China imposed on bikes. Didi’s own brand, Didi Bike (called 青桔单车) failed to secure additional quotas – buying quotas from a dying (or dead) player seems to be a very logical move.
Of course, in cities where Didi can get quota for itself or where a quota has not been imposed, Didi deploys its own bikes.
And the struggling Ofo is not yet dead. Maybe soon it will.