Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Jun 09, 2023

Tencent ramps up bet on short video platform in ByteDance challenge

Tencent ramps up bet on short video platform in ByteDance challenge

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings will ramp up its focus on short video platform, Channels, a function embedded in its popular super app WeChat, as the company looks to push back against rival platforms and reverse slowing growth in other businesses.
During WeChat's annual open class on Tuesday, representatives of the ubiquitous super app said Channels posted substantial growth in 2022, with the total number of views expanding over 200% year-on-year, while video views based on AI recommendations increased over 400%. Specific figures were not released.

Daily active creators and video uploads on Channels -- which lets users record, create and share videos -- rose by over 100% on the year, the company said in its yearly update on WeChat's business.

The super app has more than 1 billion active users -- a wide base that Tencent intends to better leverage.

Livestreaming e-commerce on Channels also grew rapidly over the past year, with total gross merchandise value (GMV), a term widely used in the e-commerce sector as an indicator of revenue, rising by more than 800% from 2021, with the average transaction value surpassing 200 yuan ($29.50).

Shenzhen-based Tencent also announced that it will soon introduce incentive programs including one aimed at helping businesses gain more traffic for brands to open shops on Channels, which the company also calls Video Accounts.

Channels didn't reveal its total GMV through livestreaming e-commerce in 2022.

However, media reports suggest that Channels' GMV could be a shadow of that posted by rival Douyin, the version of TikTok designed for mainland China. China's The Late Post reported that Channels' daily transactions from livestreamed sales pitches reached over 100 million yuan in September for the first time.

U.S.-based The Information reported Monday that Chinese consumers spent 1.41 trillion yuan, or about $208 billion, shopping on Douyin in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 76%.

Still, Channels has a large potential of "strategic values" for Tencent, it said, noting that users spend most of their time on short videos, which offers the company ways to expand its advertising revenue and e-commerce opportunities.

Tencent's top executives reiterated during quarterly earnings calls last year that the company would explore new sources of revenue by speeding up Channels' commercialization push as more advertisers turn to short-video platforms.

Douyin, Kuaishou, and video-sharing platform Bilibili all recorded advertising growth last year despite China's economic slowdown. This was because brands advertised on platforms to persuade viewers to watch livestreams and buy products online.

To boost Channels' popularity, Tencent last year organized multiple online concerts featuring popular stars like Taiwanese singer Jay Chou and American band Westlife, each attracting dozens of millions of views.

While exploring more monetization opportunities with Channels, Tencent has axed more than 10 products with what it described as "little strategic value" or those that lost money over the past year. For the first three quarters of 2022, Tencent's total workforce contracted by around 4,000, or 3.5%.

Tencent launched the internal beta testing of Channels three years ago to challenge the dominance of rivals Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili.

Tencent's sales have been slowing since 2021 amid China's worsening economic growth outlook and regulatory uncertainties surrounding the country's leading tech companies.

As the world's largest video game publisher by revenue, Tencent's domestic gaming revenue decreased 7% in the third quarter due to government measures designed to limit minors' screen time and slow regulatory approval of new titles. The company has been accelerating a global expansion amid fears over license delays in its domestic market.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
The Fed fixing the economy
Corporations standing up for “LGDP-LGT-LBG-LGBTQ2+ kids” during ‘Pride Month’ be like:
A Major Ukrainian Hydroelectric Dam BLOWN UP
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
Photos and videos of Hunter Biden with underage minors have been released.
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Chinese fighter jet buzzes U.S. Air Force spy plane over South China Sea
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
×