The strong requirement for controlling air pollution and reduced transportation cost, rising need for an efficient transportation system for short distances, and escalating need for reducing the traffic congestion are the major factors driving the growth of the micromobility market in Taiwan. Due to the aforementioned factors, the industry is projected to generate $5,981.6 million revenue in 2030, advancing at a CAGR of 61.3% during the forecast period (2021–2030).
The shutdown measures and quarantine orders are assisting in the containment of the coronavirus in Taiwan; however, significant financial suffering has also been seen. The micromobility industry, which includes a range of lightweight vehicles, such as bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters, has seen a drop in popularity in some locations as a result of the implementation of the work-from-home policy, growing trend of online grocery delivery, and cancellation of impromptu outings. Even after the lifting of the lockdowns, people are avoiding public transit, in order to protect themselves, which has stimulated the need for transportation alternatives, such as shared mobility services, for traveling and maintaining social distancing.
The market is categorized into e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, e-pods, bikes, and scooters, on the basis of vehicle type. Among these, e-mopeds accounted for the largest share in 2020. This was majorly due to the fact that Taiwanese favor two-wheelers, such as mopeds and motorcycles; consequently, market participants are strongly focusing on offering e-mopeds in their fleets in order to earn a competitive advantage. Moreover, e-mopeds provide the highest revenue due to their higher cost per minute of the ride when compared to motorcycles.
Further, the Taiwanese micromobility market has been bifurcated into multimodal and first- and last-mile, under segmentation by model. Of these, the first- and last-mile category accounted for the larger market share in 2020, and it is set to witness the faster growth during the forecast period. This will be due to the fact that customers are strongly inclined toward utilizing micromobility services to travel between the home and workplace.
Furthermore, the micromobility market is categorized into docked and dockless, on the basis of sharing system. Out of these, dockless systems are expected to witness the faster growth during the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to the fact that this system eliminates the problem of finding a parking station; therefore, users like it more.
Key players in the Taiwanese micromobility market have been involved in service expansions in order to gain a significant competitive advantage. For instance, in October 2019, Gogoro Inc., an e-vehicle and mobility platform based in Taiwan, extended its GoShare e-scooter service across Taipei city with 4,000 lightweight Gogoro Viva scooters.
Similarly, in October 2019, Taiwanese e-moped rental share service company WeMo Technology Co. Ltd. expanded its services in the Kaohsiung city of Taiwan. Initially, 300 e-mopeds were deployed in the densely populated districts of Kaohsiung, including Nanzih, Zuoying, and Cianjhens. Furthermore, plans to expand the fleet to 5,000 vehicles in the next three years were announced.
The major players operating in the market of Taiwan are Gogoro Inc., Beam Mobility Holdings Pte. Ltd., Moov Technology (S) Pte. Ltd., WeMo Technology Co. Ltd., Gokube CO. LTD., Lekuma Technology Inc., Segway Inc., UrDa Mobility (QITANG ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD.), Heyun Car Rental Co. Ltd., YouBike Co. Ltd., Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., and MOOVO MOBILITY LTD.