Airbnb wants to be an application for everything. The designer responsible for the iPhone and the head of OPENAI will help in this
For Brian Chesky, not only tourist platforms, but above all Apple were inspired. Why? Because from the philosophy of designing this company, Chesky draws full handfuls. In the implementation of the vision, he is supported by Ive ions and Studio Lovefrom, which was founded by an Apple employee for many years (he designed, among others, iPod, iPhone, iMac or MacBook), and talks about the integration of artificial intelligence, he conducts with Sam Altman, which he publicly defended during the crisis in Openi, when he lost his position for a short time. It was that emotional experience that launched an avalanche of ideas described in the manifesto of the head of Airbnb. Today they are turned into a product.
The first visible effect is the Airbnb Services section. In 260 cities, you can already order a private chef, masseur, personal trainer or photographer, and not only for an apartment rented to the platformsE – the services will also “come” to the user's home. Dave Stephenson, business director at Airbnb, explains that this is a way to equalize the advantage of hotels offering restaurants and SPA, and for Airbnb to increase the frequency of use of the application and download 15 % commission on each transaction.
The second pillar is refreshed Experiences, this time with the curator of the content and the new Originals category – From visiting Notre-Dame with an architect to recording a podcast with Conan O'Brien. The next stages are “passport” – reinforced verification of identity, which is to become a digital document – and AI agent, personal concierge Planning travel and, in the long run, the user's daily life. This is an ambitious concept of the ecosystem of services embedded on trust, design and data.
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Airbnb wants to be a platform from everything
Appetite on a scale, however, grows in the shade of slowing demand. Wi Kw. 2025 revenues increased only by 6 percent. up to $ 2.3 billion, and the net profit melted to $ 154 million. (7 percent margin), loaded with higher depreciation of employee shares and write -offs for investments. Free cash flow remains powerful ($ 1.8 billion), but the company warns against a flat ADR rate (average daily rate, i.e. average revenue obtained by a platform from one reserved day in a given period) and a slower increase in booking in Q2, forecasting $ 2.99-3.05 billion. income. These are the market expectations.
Brian Chesky, head of Airbnb, wants to clearly change the platform
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In the broader perspective of 2024, it ended with a record of $ 11 billion. sales and $ 4 billion corrected EBITDA. In the 4th quarter alone, net profit reached $ 461 million. at 19 % margin The company used a part of cash for Buy-Back, reducing the divorce of shares.
In favor of Chesky's strategy, revenue diversification speaks, a higher frequency of contact with the brand, a potentially higher marginity of services and a advantage in the trust that Airbnb has built thanks to the system of assessments and crisis service. All this It can unlock additional supply of apartments and hosts, especially during periods of economic uncertainty when people are looking for additional income.
Risks? These are equally specific: dispersion of competences beyond the key business can blur the brand, the quality control of hundreds of new categories of services will be a logistics and legal challenge, and each slip -up – from poisoning to suspicious photos – will charge the reputation of the entire platform. Airbnb also enters a direct conflict with specialized leaders – from Instacart and Doordash PO Yelp and giants like Apple or Meta, when it comes to identity and social communication. There are also local regulations that limit the supply today short -term rental, and there may be analogous supervision over home services.
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Either height or slowly quenching the lights
Why does Chesky recognize that you need to accelerate? Airbnb is approaching natural saturation in the accommodation segmentand the dynamics of the tourist market after a pandemic is normalized.
The long -term growth rate drops, investors demand a new narrative, and the competition of hotels and marketplace does not sleep. For the 43-year-old founder, “Application for everything” is a chance to avoid the label of a mature company and entrance to the BIG Tech league as a service platform Real-Life.
In a great picture, Brian Chesky wants the opening of Airbnb to become a habit as frequent as checking the phone, and the brand – the gate to the world offline: from accommodation, through the tattoo studio, to virtual identity proof. If the project succeeds, Airbnb can go from seasonal tourist business to the position of daily services infrastructure. If it fails, the company will remain “only” the income leader of the accommodation market, and the investment in refreshing the brand will end with an expense with a colossal copy.
For now, Chesky makes a classic movement of the business founder: he puts everything on his vision and returns to the role of the main designer of the company's future. Given that one of the best experts on the market help him, there is a chance that he will succeed.
Author: Grzegorz Kubera, Business Insider Polska journalist
