295: Section 295

By then, all other internet companies would finally see Hello Bike's true fangs.

At this moment, after opening the Hello Bike app, Old Third's hand, which was about to withdraw his deposit, suddenly stopped.

This was because on the main page of the Hello Bike app, he saw a brand-new announcement that had just popped up.

"In three days, Hello Bike will switch to deposit-free riding, and all deposits will be automatically refunded!"

Chapter 219: Also Deposit-Free Riding, Shocking Other Companies!

"I don't think there's a need to refund it; Hello is about to switch directly to deposit-free riding."

"This is the most powerful action to break the rumors."

Looking at the announcement that popped up on his phone, Old Third said directly.

Meanwhile, Oldest and Old Second, who were beside him, also saw this message at this moment.

"Could it be a delaying tactic? Are they afraid too many of us will withdraw our deposits?" Old Second mumbled.

Old Third, however, shook his head.

"I don't think it's that sinister. Anyway, I'm not planning to withdraw it. I'm still planning to ride for fun these two days."

"They've already announced deposit-free riding; I trust this software."

Seeing Old Third's decisive attitude, Oldest and Old Second exchanged glances and put down their fingers that were poised to refund their deposits.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Let's keep riding."

At the same time that Old Third and the others saw this Hello announcement, all Hello Bike users saw this new push notification on their phones.

Hello Bike will, in three days, switch to deposit-free riding, just like Penguin Bike and Ali Bike!

The impact of such an announcement was enormous.

Previously, all external users believed that Hello Bike did not have the capability for deposit-free riding, and all user deposits had long been misappropriated by them. They had no way to deal with the impending trust crisis.

But no one had expected that Hello Bike would directly announce deposit-free riding!

One second, many people were still worried that Hello's deposits could not be refunded; the next second, Hello directly announced deposit-free riding, immediately dispelling the rumors.

It should be known that Hello Bike now covers 90% of the cities and towns nationwide, and its market share also exceeds 90%. All other shared bikes cannot even catch up to Hello's taillights.

Originally, because Hello Bike could not offer deposit-free riding, such a large market share was considered quite superficial by many. Once Penguin and Ali officially rolled out their bikes, these market shares would be divided between Penguin and Ali.

Therefore, at that time, not many people took Hello Bike's market share seriously.

But now, with the release of Hello Bike's announcement, the situation is completely different.

If Hello Bike, which covers most cities nationwide, also introduces deposit-free riding, then in the shared bike sector, all other competitors will be unable to shake Hello's current position.

After all, Hello Bike's current market share and market penetration are too high.

Therefore, as soon as this announcement was released, it quickly climbed to the top of the weibo hot search in just over ten minutes!

"Hello Bike to switch to deposit-free riding in three days!"

Because currently, Hello Bike has accumulated a large number of daily active users.

Therefore, the appeal of this hot search title to the public was also quite exaggerated.

In a short period, the comments under this hot search exceeded several hundred thousand.

"Holy cow, is this real or fake? Didn't they say deposits couldn't be refunded? How did it become deposit-free directly?"

"I was just thinking, how are you going to solve the current trust crisis? I didn't expect them to give such a simple and brutal solution—directly announcing that it will be deposit-free."

"Interesting, interesting. If Hello can truly offer deposit-free riding, then with Hello's current market share and penetration, Penguin and Ali combined would probably find it very difficult to shake its position."

"I do have one thing I can't figure out: Hello is such a small company. If their previous expansion wasn't funded by misappropriating user deposits, then where did you get so much money to deploy so many shared bikes? To cover 90% of the cities nationwide, it would require at least tens of billions in investment, right?"

"Could it be that you accepted investment? But there's no information about any external investment, and didn't you say you wouldn't accept external investment?"

Facing the announcement released by Hello Bike at this time, although most users were quite happy, the trust crisis of Hello Company was naturally diluted a lot.

However, there were still quite a few users who believed that Hello Bike would not be able to produce the deposits in three days and were waiting to see them fail.

After all, no one could believe that such a small internet startup company would have so much liquid capital.

And facing the new round of public discussion, Hello Company internally fell silent again and did not make any response.

After all, all doubts would dissipate once they fully refunded the deposits in three days.

Meanwhile, shortly after Hello Bike announced deposit-free riding, within Penguin Group, in Ma Liuyun's top-floor office, "Currently, the cities where Penguin Bike and Ali Bike have opened services have reached about fifty each."

"In these fifty cities, we each occupy the largest market share, and the usage rates of other bikes combined are just a fraction of ours."

"Even Hello Bike, which previously dominated the market, is no match once our deposit-free bikes enter."

"It won't be long before the shared bike market will be completely divided by Ali and Penguin Bike."

At this moment, Ma Liuyun was discussing the recent expansion speed of Penguin Bike and Ali Bike with Li Wenqiu, who was in front of him.

After announcing their entry into the shared bike sector, Ma Liuyun and Li Wenqiu seemed to have a tacit understanding, opening services in different cities.

The fifty cities where Penguin Bike currently operates do not overlap with the service cities opened by Ali Bike, which was their initial plan.

Although the two did not contact each other, through each other's actions, both sides tacitly understood that the other was also preparing to share 'the world' with them.

Listening to Ma Liuyun's words, Li Wenqiu also nodded.

"And now, Hello Bike is also facing a trust crisis, with many people withdrawing their deposits."

"I'm afraid Hello won't be able to hold on until we and Ali make a large-scale entry."

Upon hearing this, Ma Liuyun also nodded with a smile.

"Currently, among the internet companies entering the shared bike sector, only we and Ali have the capability for deposit-free riding. All other shared bike companies do not have enough capital to support them in doing so."

"This Hello Company's previous refusal of Ali and our acquisition requests will be the biggest mistake they've made."

Penguin had also considered acquiring Hello before, but was also rejected by Hello.

They simply did not take this small company seriously.

And it was at this moment that the door to Ma Liuyun's office was suddenly pushed open by Li Wenqiu.

Li Wenqiu's expression also seemed a bit grim.