https://www.scmp.com/rss/500134/feed The latest news, analysis and opinion on Ofo. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com This article originally appeared on ABACUS Do you ever feel not quite like yourself? Suffering from negative image issues or feeling uncomfortable in your own skin? Apparently bike-sharing company Ofo knows the feeling. The financially troubled company recently gave its app a makeover -- it’s now, apparently, a shopping platform. Once the star of China’s dockless bike boom, the Beijing-based company has been struggling to refund deposits to its users for more than a year. And it seems it’s still... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3049078/troubled-bike-sharing-company-ofo-now-shopping-app?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3049078/troubled-bike-sharing-company-ofo-now-shopping-app?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2020 02:00:07 +0000 Do you ever feel not quite like yourself? Suffering from negative image issues or feeling uncomfortable in your own skin? Apparently bike-sharing company Ofo knows the feeling. The financially troubled company recently gave its app a makeover -- it’s now, apparently, a shopping platform. Once the star of China’s dockless bike boom, the Beijing-based company has been struggling to refund deposits to its users for more than a year. And it seems it’s still difficult to get that money back from the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/troubled-bike-sharing-company-ofo-now-shopping-app/article/3048898?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/troubled-bike-sharing-company-ofo-now-shopping-app/article/3048898?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2020 02:00:06 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Do you think bike theft is a problem in your city? Mobike, one of China’s biggest bike-sharing firms, just announced that it lost 205,600 bikes in 2019 to vandalism and theft. In an announcement published last Friday, the company also thanked its users for chipping in and reporting stolen and damaged bikes, adding that it received reports from over 189,000 users. Vandalism is a major problem for bike-sharing firms. Manchester became the first city... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3043898/mobike-lost-more-200000-bikes-theft-and-vandalism-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3043898/mobike-lost-more-200000-bikes-theft-and-vandalism-year?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:17:08 +0000 Do you think bike theft is a problem in your city? Mobike, one of China’s biggest bike-sharing firms, just announced that it lost 205,600 bikes in 2019 to vandalism and theft. In an announcement published last Friday, the company also thanked its users for chipping in and reporting stolen and damaged bikes, adding that it received reports from over 189,000 users. Vandalism is a major problem for bike-sharing firms. Manchester became the first city Mobike pulled out of last year due to theft and... https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/mobike-lost-more-200000-bikes-theft-and-vandalism-year/article/3043884?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/mobike-lost-more-200000-bikes-theft-and-vandalism-year/article/3043884?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:17:07 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS They were tech titans, the heads of three much-hyped companies. But now they can’t even book a flight or travel on a high-speed train. Luo Yonghao, the flamboyant founder of smartphone company Smartisan, joined the ranks of blacklisted tech leaders, barring him from certain things considered luxuries. He joins Dai Wei, founder of bike-sharing company Ofo, and Jia Yueting, founder of crumbling entertainment empire LeEco, along with China’s nearly 15... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3037288/they-founded-three-hot-tech-companies-now-theyre-country-wide-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3037288/they-founded-three-hot-tech-companies-now-theyre-country-wide-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 02:00:12 +0000 They were tech titans, the heads of three much-hyped companies. But now they can’t even book a flight or travel on a high-speed train. Luo Yonghao, the flamboyant founder of smartphone company Smartisan, joined the ranks of blacklisted tech leaders, barring him from certain things considered luxuries. He joins Dai Wei, founder of bike-sharing company Ofo, and Jia Yueting, founder of crumbling entertainment empire LeEco, along with China’s nearly 15 million other “discredited... https://www.scmp.com/tech/they-founded-three-hot-tech-companies-now-theyre-country-wide-blacklist/article/3036934?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/they-founded-three-hot-tech-companies-now-theyre-country-wide-blacklist/article/3036934?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 02:00:10 +0000 The term “netizen” has never been fully accepted in the English-speaking world. The portmanteau of the words internet and citizen is said to have been coined by an American in the 1990s, but these days you’re more likely to see stories about netizens in China -- or wǎngmín, as they’re called in Chinese. Chinese netizens have become surprisingly influential on social media. When they speak out on microblogging website Weibo, they get quoted in both domestic and global media. Their ridicule can... https://www.scmp.com/digital-life/who-typical-chinese-netizen/article/3027154?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/digital-life/who-typical-chinese-netizen/article/3027154?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Sep 2019 15:22:01 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS China’s dockless bike sharing boom was born out of an idea that might sound, well, insane: Placing bikes freely on the streets and expecting nobody would steal them. Ofo was one of the first startups to try it in 2014… and it worked. The company, founded by Peking University graduate Dai Wei, was at the forefront of a Chinese tech trend that swept the world. It spread from Peking University’s campus to Chinese cities and then beyond, inspiring startups... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/who-what/what/article/3028265/story-ofo-one-wildest-rides-chinas-tech-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/who-what/what/article/3028265/story-ofo-one-wildest-rides-chinas-tech-history?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jun 2019 09:33:26 +0000 The business of bike sharing is a tough nut to crack almost anywhere in the world. But nowhere is the industry’s rise and bust as dramatic as in China, where the number of startups have gone from more than 60 to a handful in the span of just three years. Can any of the survivors make it in the long run? In the latest bid to turn around their businesses, Mobike, Hellobike and Bluegogo are all raising hourly fees to between 30 and 40 US cents, doubling previous rates. (Abacus is a unit of the... https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/can-bike-sharing-survive-china/article/3005856?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/can-bike-sharing-survive-china/article/3005856?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Apr 2019 14:02:51 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS The business of bike sharing is a tough nut to crack almost anywhere in the world. But nowhere is the industry’s rise and bust as dramatic as in China, where the number of startups have gone from more than 60 to a handful in the span of just three years. Can any of the survivors make it in the long run? In the latest bid to turn around their businesses, Mobike, Hellobike and Bluegogo are all raising hourly fees to between 30 and 40 US cents, doubling... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029282/can-bike-sharing-survive-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029282/can-bike-sharing-survive-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Apr 2019 14:02:51 +0000 Two years into the bike-sharing boom, Chinese users are now turning their back on one of the industry’s stars. Hundreds of people lined up at Ofo’s Beijing headquarters yesterday to ask for their deposits back, Chinese media reported. Users flocked there after one Beijing newspaper reported that people who went straight to Ofo’s offices to apply for a refund got their money back. For months, users said that they haven’t been able to get their deposit back from Ofo, as the company ran into... https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/ofo-users-are-trying-anything-get-their-deposit-money-back/article/3000323?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/ofo-users-are-trying-anything-get-their-deposit-money-back/article/3000323?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:32:12 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Two years into the bike-sharing boom, Chinese users are now turning their back on one of the industry’s stars. Hundreds of people lined up at Ofo’s Beijing headquarters yesterday to ask for their deposits back, Chinese media reported. Users flocked there after one Beijing newspaper reported that people who went straight to Ofo’s offices to apply for a refund got their money back. For months, users said that they haven’t been able to get their deposit... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029050/ofo-users-are-trying-anything-get-their-deposit-money-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029050/ofo-users-are-trying-anything-get-their-deposit-money-back?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:32:12 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Bike sharing has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. First it was cheered as a way to solve urban commuting problems… and also a great business idea that attracted tons of startups. But the market was quickly flooded, and many struggled to make money. (It’s also more like bike rental than bike sharing, but that’s a whole other thing.) Now Ofo, one of the biggest operators in the market, thinks it knows how to increase revenue. But there’s one little... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028762/ofo-wants-users-watch-video-ad-when-unlocking-bike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028762/ofo-wants-users-watch-video-ad-when-unlocking-bike?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Aug 2018 11:25:58 +0000 Bike sharing has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. First it was cheered as a way to solve urban commuting problems… and also a great business idea that attracted tons of startups. But the market was quickly flooded, and many struggled to make money. (It’s also more like bike rental than bike sharing, but that’s a whole other thing.) Now Ofo, one of the biggest operators in the market, thinks it knows how to increase revenue. But there’s one little problem: Users hate it. Their big idea?... https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/ofo-wants-users-watch-video-ad-when-unlocking-bike/article/2161023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/start-ups/ofo-wants-users-watch-video-ad-when-unlocking-bike/article/2161023?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Aug 2018 11:25:58 +0000 China may not have invented bike-sharing, but its real innovation was in making the first app-driven “dockless” bicycles than can be unlocked and peddled almost anywhere. All you need is your smartphone. I was an early adopter, having long been dismayed that the Bicycle Kingdom had become an Automobile Republic. In the years before Ofo or Mobike, theft was a real concern, seriously limiting where you could take a bike. It was liberating to cycle to a subway station, park the thing and forget... https://www.scmp.com/culture/millions-bicycles-going-waste-china/article/2159695?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/millions-bicycles-going-waste-china/article/2159695?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:15:15 +0000 They first appeared in China: enormous piles of unwanted rental bikes. Now the mountains of discarded two-wheelers are making an appearance in the US. Dallas, Texas now has its own “bicycle graveyards” as the Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo exits the city’s rent-a-bike business. Pictures of hundreds of Ofo’s yellow bikes piling up at a collection center run by CMC Recycling American, a metal recycling firm, have been going viral online. The Beijing-based bike-share company said these bikes are... https://www.scmp.com/hundreds-rental-bikes-dumped-dallas-ofo-opts-out/article/2158798?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/hundreds-rental-bikes-dumped-dallas-ofo-opts-out/article/2158798?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Aug 2018 10:00:17 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS They first appeared in China: enormous piles of unwanted rental bikes. Now the mountains of discarded two-wheelers are making an appearance in the US. Dallas, Texas now has its own “bicycle graveyards” as the Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo exits the city’s rent-a-bike business. Pictures of hundreds of Ofo’s yellow bikes piling up at a collection center run by CMC Recycling American, a metal recycling firm, have been going viral online. The... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028722/hundreds-rental-bikes-dumped-dallas-ofo-opts-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028722/hundreds-rental-bikes-dumped-dallas-ofo-opts-out?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Aug 2018 10:00:17 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Much has been made of the benefits of bike-sharing: Reducing congestion, vehicle emissions, and fuel consumption -- which in turn lead to health benefits and financial savings. But it also has a dirty secret: The environmental impact of the increasing number of bikes that are being abandoned. The South China Morning Post reports that two Chinese bike-sharing firms have pulled more than 3,000 bikes out of rivers during clean-up operations in southern... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028608/mobike-and-ofo-salvage-thousands-abandoned-bikes-rivers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3028608/mobike-and-ofo-salvage-thousands-abandoned-bikes-rivers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jul 2018 09:00:45 +0000 Much has been made of the benefits of bike-sharing: Reducing congestion, vehicle emissions, and fuel consumption -- which in turn lead to health benefits and financial savings. But it also has a dirty secret: The environmental impact of the increasing number of bikes that are being abandoned. The South China Morning Post reports that two Chinese bike-sharing firms have pulled more than 3,000 bikes out of rivers during clean-up operations in southern China. Mobike found more than 1,000, while... https://www.scmp.com/digital-life/mobike-and-ofo-salvage-thousands-abandoned-bikes-rivers/article/2154022?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/digital-life/mobike-and-ofo-salvage-thousands-abandoned-bikes-rivers/article/2154022?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jul 2018 09:00:45 +0000