Scooter Wars and invest in the sharing economy

If you live in a big city in the United States, chances are you recently wondered, "But what is it that these scooters?" [19659002] In what's called the "scooter" wars, "scooter invasion", and even "Scootergeddon", city streets across the country have been inundated with thousands of electric scooters commendable to during the last months.

The dominant company in the scooter wars is Bird, founded by former leader of Uber and Lyft, Travis VanderZanden. The dockless scooter company, aptly dubbed the "Uber of scooters", now operates scooter sharing in at least 22 US cities.

Download the Bird app, find a scooter to unlock and you're ready to go. It's really that simple.

Already valued at $ 2 billion, Bird is only one of many competing companies with no anchor scooters, part of a new trend known as micro-mobility. The business model is not without controversy because there is a lot of abuse on the part of users, but barely $ 0.15 a minute and only $ 1.00 to unlock, there is little to complain from a value point of view. and competing companies Lime and Spin, however, public investors are unfortunately stuck waiting on the sidelines. This may or may not be a good thing depending on what you see, as companies are at a very high risk, with scooters already banned or seized in San Francisco and Denver.

Still, while dockless scooter companies do not yet provide a viable investment opportunity for the average Joe, they also point to a growing trend in consumer habits, especially among millennia. and the emerging Gen Z: the propensity to rent rather than to own.

This is not just scooters … [19659009Frequentlycalled"sharingeconomy"thistrendtowardsthetopisatrendinwhichtheinvestorshouldpayalotofattentionbecauseitcontinuestohuntthemodelsofbusinessexistingatascalenotbefore

In San Francisco, the launching platform of Attraction like Uber and Lyft, average monthly trips by urban taxi dropped by 65% ​​between 2012 and 2014.

In New York, the price of a single taxi medallion rose from 1.32 million $ 650,000 between 2013 and 2018.

And in Chicago, 42% of Chicago's licensed taxis are now inactive.

This level of disturbance had an obvious impact even though Uber and Lyft remained private. Medallion Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: MFIN), for example, has offered a short-term opportunity for investors over the past five years.

The company, which finances private transport, is defenseless against the sharing economy, its share having plummeted 68% since 2013.

Then there is Avis Budget Group, which has repurchased the Zipcar car-sharing in January 2013. Investors monitored shares skyrocket after this purchase, rising from $ 21.00 to $ 68.00 per share over a period of only 20 months

Shareable Transportation also had a negative impact on the auto industry. As reported by Navigant Research, Generation Y youth have a lower car ownership rate than previous generations at their age.

There are many reasons why this may be the case, but easily accessible car-pooling and car-sharing are certainly contributing factors.

Big Auto has already begun to consider the lack of buying millennia as inevitable. Volvo, for its part, has started offering subscription services for its vehicles. It's a bit like renting a car, but with much more flexible terms.

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The ultimate goal, however, is that automobile companies offer subscription services for automated road transport services. Among other automakers, Ford (NYSE: F) has made it clear during its latest conference calls that it intends to develop a fleet of autonomous taxis.

As wild as it may seem, it is one of today 's great ambitions. giants of the automobile and technology. Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), is currently launching a fleet of autonomous mini-vans.

Needless to say, these efforts will spark a wide range of investment opportunities (and pitfalls) for investors, so he will pay to stay abreast of these developments. Not only will this new transportation model have a profound impact on Big Auto, but it will also be a major asset for supplier stocks and other ancillary industries.

5G: The basis of our sharable future

The most obvious The ancillary industry for the sharable economy will be mobile connectivity, as asset tracking and data transfer requests become more in addition robust. According to Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), for example, an autonomous car will use 4,000 GB of data per day

Just compare that to your current mobile data plan to realize that current networks simply can not not support inevitable proliferation of autonomous vehicles and robo-taxis fleets

As Forbes reports, "Autonomous cars will not work until we have 5G."

And as Business Insider rightly claims, "5G will drive the adoption of autonomous cars."

Of course, shareable goods will extend beyond robo-taxis, as we have seen recently with the scooter invasion. It is not yet clear what industries are still to be affected, but we can be confident that advances in mobile connectivity will drive new business models along the way.

For investors, the stock price should be pretty obvious: ready to skyrocket and take advantage of the economy of tomorrow, today

up to next time,

Jason Stutman

@JasonStutman on Twitter

Jason Stutman is the Senior Technology Analyst of Wealth Daily and the Editor-in-Chief of Investment Advice Bulletins Technology and Opportunity and Cutting Edge. His strategy for building winning portfolios is simple: buy the disruptor, sell the disrupted.

Covering the vast technology sector and sometimes investing in the political sphere, Jason has written hundreds of articles on topics ranging from consumer electronics and biotechnology to the stadium from development to political forecasts and social commentaries.

Outside the office, Jason is a sci-fi and outdoor lover, and a squash enthusiast at best. He writes through the prism of a futurist, defender of the free market and tax conservative. Jason is from Baltimore, Maryland, with roots in the great state of New York