Hi folks, we are back with our weekly edition of China’s Digital Digest, wherein we bring you weekly updates on China’s digital space. The report takes a quick glance at China’s complex and rapidly evolving social media landscape by providing updates on the latest happenings across the social media industry. Here are the major highlights of the report.
1. Huawei’s HarmonyOS Poised for Faster Expansion on Back of WeChat and Douyin
Huawei Technologies is looking to further expand the presence of its HarmonyOS mobile platform on the back of two of mainland China’s biggest social media apps, WeChat from Tencent Holdings and ByteDance-owned Douyin.
Shenzhen-based Huawei is close to reaching a deal with Tencent to make its super app WeChat fully operational on HarmonyOS without sharing any revenue, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources. While Douyin now has a HarmonyOS-compatible version available for download, the Bloomberg report said ByteDance expressed no interest in opening talks about revenue sharing when Huawei reached out to the TikTok owner.
2. Chinese-Owned Temu to Face Compliance Issues in Indonesia, Local Officials Warn
Budget shopping app provider Temu, owned by Pinduoduo parent PDD Holdings, may face regulatory hurdles if it enters the Indonesian market, local officials have warned.
The platform’s business model of selling from manufacturers directly to consumers is in conflict with domestic regulations that require “an intermediary” or “a distributor”, Isy Karim, the director general of the domestic trade department in the country’s trade ministry, said last week, according to CNN Indonesia. Karim said the government would closely watch the situation, adding that Temu has not yet applied for an e-commerce license to run its business in the market. The potential entry of fast-growing Temu into one of the biggest e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia has been monitored by other local officials, who have voiced concerns over jobs and consumer prices.
3. Chinese E-Commerce Sales Up 14% for 618 Shopping Festival, Report Says
China’s major e-commerce platforms saw gross merchandise value (GMV) grow 13.6 percent year on year during the 618 shopping festival, according to third-party data. However, profit margins are likely to be squeezed amid a heated price war.
The estimated GMV growth, published in a report from research firm Analysys on Thursday, includes sales on China’s biggest online shopping platforms: Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao and Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo, ByteDance’s Douyin and rival short-video platform Kuaishou. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, led all other platforms with a 26.2 percent surge in GMV, followed by Pinduoduo’s 17.7 percent and Kuaishou’s 16.1 percent. Alibaba and JD.com saw GMV grow 12 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, according to Analysys.
4. China’s Midyear Shopping Festival Ends With Alibaba, JD.Com Declaring Victory
Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com touted impressive growth trends but declined to reveal total gross merchandise value (GMV) figures for their midyear 618 shopping festival events, as China’s major e-commerce players remain locked in a heated battle to get consumers to open their wallets amid the country’s economic slowdown.
Both e-commerce giants declared victory as they fended off competition from rivals Pinduoduo, operated by Temu owner PDD Holdings, and Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok owned by ByteDance. Still, some analysts warn that consumers are growing weary of the non-stop online promotions. Meanwhile, JD.com, a major rival of Alibaba, said that its transaction volume and orders during the midyear sales extravaganza broke records, without disclosing the exact figures. JD.com said 500 million customers participated in its sales promotion, with orders contributing to over 1 billion yuan in sales across 83 brands, representing 50 percent sales growth for more than 150,000 small and medium-sized merchants.
5. Perfect World Lays Off Over A Thousand Employees
A major company in the Chinese gaming industry, Perfect World, has been caught up in a wave of layoffs, attracting widespread attention from the industry and the public.
According to netizens and third-party sources, the company is suspected to be undergoing significant adjustments in projects and personnel, with highly anticipated projects such as ‘Perfect New World’ and ‘One Punch Man’ being suspended, leading to a large number of staff layoffs. The scale of layoffs in Perfect World this time is unprecedented.
According to internal staff disclosures, the total number of layoffs has exceeded a thousand people, with some research and development departments directly reducing hundreds of people, and the middle platform team also sharply reduced from the original 150 people to dozens.
6. TikTok Launches New Image Sharing App Called Whee
TikTok has launched a new mobile photo-sharing app called Whee. The app, which is currently only available in a few countries, is similar to Instagram and allows users to post photos, chat with friends, and view feeds of new posts.
Whee has a simple user interface with three main tabs: camera, news feed, and messages. Users can take photos and post them to their news feed, where they can be seen by friends. They can also chat with friends through direct messages. Whee emphasizes privacy, giving users the option to share their photos only with close friends. This differs from Instagram, where users can post photos publicly or to a limited audience of followers.
7. TikTok Announces New Taylor Swift In-App Experience
TikTok has announced a new in-app experience, dedicated to fans of Taylor Swift and celebrating the massive ‘Eras Tour’.
In a press release, the social platform revealed the new update "will give Swifties a chance to win album-branded profile frames and collect digital friendship beads to build the ultimate friendship bracelet." Each week fans will get an opportunity to complete "new album-themed tasks where they will earn themed-profile frames and digital beads to create their own in-app friendship bracelet." Fans who can complete all 11 weeks of tasks will receive a "celebratory final Swiftie profile frame."
8. TikTok Expands ‘Out of Phone’ Campaigns with UGC
TikTok’s launching a new “Out of Phone: Branded Mission”, which will combine TikTok’s interactive “Branded Mission” element into its “Out of Phone” offering, expanding the potential of its IRL displays.
The offering will expand the creative potential of campaigns, while also allowing creators to get more exposure via new display types and screens. Which could be a big lure, especially when you’re talking about exposure in Times Square and the like. TikTok has likely had to modify the usage permissions for this new type of campaign, but it could be a valuable and powerful way to boost engagement, both on and off the platform.
Wrapping Up
The vast and diverse nature of the Chinese Social Media space makes it incredibly challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments taking place. However, China’s Digital Digest brings you all the latest updates from there to keep you abreast of all the evolving trends.
To delve deeper into the findings of our latest report, click here.
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