In an unexpected move, tech giant Apple, Inc. has invested $1 billion in Chinese ridesharing service and Uber, Inc. rival Didi Chuxing (formerly Didi Kuaidi).

Apple said they had made the investment in part to better understand how business works in China.

“We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters. “Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well.”

In addition, Cook linked the company to iPhone apps, saying in a separate statement that “Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China…We are extremely impressed by the business they’ve built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow.”

Didi’s business, which like Uber does rely on an app to hail a ride, dominates the Chinese market with an 87 percent share of the market for private car-hailing in China and operates in 400 cities working with more than a staggering 14 million drivers.

Synergies

The decision for Apple to become Didi’s largest investor can best be described as weird, particularly given Tim Cook’s explanation that it was about wanting to get to know China better, but there may well be synergies between the two companies, both now and into the future.

First up, and the obvious one, is a tie-up that would see Did accept Apple Pay as a payment option; if it was to happen it would immediately give Apple a massive boost in China and potentially place it at the forefront of preferred payment methods.

The second potential synergy could come in the form of the long-rumored Apple Car; if Apple comes to market with a presumably driverless electric vehicle in the next three to five years (and we know they are working on one) what better testing platform than the world’s largest ridesharing service? That may be somewhat of a pipe dream now, but it’s also far from being impossible either.

Including the new round Didi has raised $4.42 billion to date with previous investors including Tencent Industry Win-Win Fund, Softbank, Tamasek Holdings and GSR Ventures.

Image credit: Didi Chuxing.