This Chinese App Just Beat Facebook!

Source: SCMP

TikTok and its Chinese equivalent Douyin ranked as the worlds second most downloaded app last year, but the short video platform operated by ByteDance is facing challenges from both upstart rivals and established players that are starting to embrace short-form content.

TikTok and Douyin amassed a combined 740 million downloads last year, overtaking Facebook and Messenger to become the worlds second most downloaded app behind WhatsApp, according to market analyst Sensor Tower.

Short video has been popularised by TikTok for sure, but bigger social networking platforms like Facebook and Instagram are aware of it and are doing something about it, said Meenakshi Tiwari, an analyst at technology market research firm Forrester, who pointed to Instagrams TikTok-like video-music remix feature Reels launched in Brazil two months ago.

This could be a lucrative source of income for Douyin as well as content creators and the agencies that manage them.

Beijing-based agency Chenjin Culture, for example, charges between 50,000 yuan (US$7,248) and 100,000 yuan to produce a short video ad on a popular Douyin account it operates for a pair of twins. The twins, who have nearly 5 million followers on Douyin, also have a TikTok account with more than 1.6 million followers that has not been able to generate any income yet, said Joey Wang, Chenjins co-founder and chief executive.

A TikTok spokeswoman said the app's priority was on user experience but that it was "exploring opportunities to create value for both our community and our brand partners".

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