I don't think that's true. Uber's business model is the same as every cab company, but better. It's just a temporary problem (competition forcing them to sell below market value) that they need to overcome.
Their financial struggles are due to them pricing well below what taxi cabs do. But if Uber priced the same as cabs they'd still be an infinitely better service and make lots of money, once Lyft isn't there undercutting.
It reminds me a lot of airlines. They were all hemorrhaging money similarly, even for a decade or two after deregulation, until they consolidated down into a few and raised prices.
Are you arguing that the US airline industry spins profits? I mean, sure, you have some carriers like Southwest which do, but as a friend of mine once put it, the US airline industry exists mainly as an outlet for Boeing to sell airplanes...
That was true for a long time but hasn't been for awhile. They now are mostly profitable. Delta makes almost as much as Southwest and the other majors are still in the billions.
Their financial struggles are due to them pricing well below what taxi cabs do. But if Uber priced the same as cabs they'd still be an infinitely better service and make lots of money, once Lyft isn't there undercutting.
It reminds me a lot of airlines. They were all hemorrhaging money similarly, even for a decade or two after deregulation, until they consolidated down into a few and raised prices.