TikTok’s parent company ByteDance generated RMB 40 billion (USD 5.64 billion) in revenue in the quarter past, representing a 130% year-on-year (YoY) increase, said Reuters citing two sources familiar with the business.
The company, valued at over USD 100 billion according to Bloomberg’s previous reporting, is said to have set a 2020 revenue goal of RMB 200 billion (USD 28 billion), half that of Tencent (HKG: 0700)’s 2019 total earnings. In 2019, ByteDance raked in USD 20 billion revenue, up 180% YoY, KrASIA reported.
In May, TikTok, with downloads from its Chinese version Douyin counted in, was again crowned as the most downloaded app worldwide (non-game) with more than 111.9 million installs, said Sensor Tower. The short-video duo brought in over USD 78 million in revenue during April, 86.6% of which came from Chinese users.
The popularity of the two apps, together with news aggregator Jinri Toutiao in China, have made ByteDance the second-largest digital advertising player in China, beating internet giants like Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) and Tencent. Nearly 90% of the company’s revenue came from advertising, said research firm QuestMobile.
Earlier this week, ByteDance secured a USD 140 million plot of land in Tencent’s hometown of Shenzhen for its new regional headquarters.
Except for deploying its own team in the gaming market, the Beijing-based startup is also eyeing opportunities in sectors like online education, online medical services, cloud computing, and in-vehicle infotainment.
Recently, ByteDance has also reportedly set up an e-commerce department, potentially in cooperation with Alibaba (NYSE: BABA; HKEX: 9988), ahead of the national “618” online shopping festival in mid-June, per 36Kr.
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Update: CST 14:46, August 25, 2020, updated the “million” in the subhead to “billion”, we apologize for the error.
