They operate in so many markets though, many competitors in many markets. For example in Australia Ola is generally cheaper (especially so when there is Uber surge pricing). It probably isn't sustainable for Ola either, but at the same time, can Uber afford to give up those users, even in the short term?
Amazon was building expensive infrastructure and improving their brand, whereas people are increasingly coming to associate Uber as tarnished (don't pay their drivers enough, don't screen for rapists, dumpster fire politics, killed a pedestrian testing their self-driving cars recklessly, continue to hemorrhage money after a decade of operations).
Amazon breaking even is very different from Uber lighting cash on fire to keep the lights on. Amazon was working towards something - becoming the best online shopping place possible (and building the logistical infrastructure to make that happen, allowing them to offer better services such as guaranteed fast shipping). Uber is just continually rearranging the chairs hoping to keep it going as long as they can.
There is nothing about Uber that scales without losing more money. If there were, they would have figured out how to make money by now. It's not like they haven't had enough time and money.
why Is the one outlier always used as an example? But even with that outlier it’s still not a great example. Amazon Retail is a low margin, low profit business. 75% of Amazon’s profit comes from AWS.
Unless you think that Uber is somehow going to pull a high margin non related business out some type of way, it’s really a horrible comparison.
And those competitors are also subsidizing rides. In many cases they are also paying drivers better to the point you'll get uber drivers recommending other services. The winner is whoever can pump more investor money in the longest, and even the can be disrupted by new rounds of investors.