Kuaishou Reaches 1 Billion Users: TikTok's Competitor Grows

Kuaishou Surpasses One Billion Monthly Active Users

A significant milestone has been reached by Kuaishou, a major competitor to TikTok within China. The Chinese short-video platform, also recognized internationally through its application Kwai, has officially exceeded one billion monthly active users (MAU).

Contextualizing Kuaishou’s Growth

To illustrate the scale of this achievement, Facebook reported 2.85 billion MAUs as of March. Forecasts predicted TikTok would exceed 1.2 billion MAUs in the current year. Furthermore, Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, announced in September that it had already reached 600 million daily users. Therefore, Kuaishou still has potential for further expansion.

Geographical Focus and International Expansion

China continues to be the primary market for Kuaishou. The company’s international MAUs surpassed 100 million during the first quarter, coinciding with a focused strategy in South America and Southeast Asia.

This number rapidly increased to 150 million MAUs by April, as highlighted during the firm’s earnings call.

Market Response and Financial Performance

Kuaishou’s stock, listed in Hong Kong, experienced a rise of over 6% on Wednesday, reaching almost HK$200 ($25.70) per share.

This surge elevated the company’s market capitalization to approximately HK$830 billion ($107 billion), although this value remains below its peak of HK$415 recorded in February.

Broader Trends in Chinese Internet Expansion

Kuaishou’s global progress demonstrates that ByteDance is not the sole Chinese internet company achieving substantial gains in international markets.

Bigo, a live-video application owned by China’s Joy, previously enjoyed considerable popularity in India before facing a government ban.

Company Leadership and Olympic Broadcasting Rights

“Having been a pioneer since 2011, Kuaishou has empowered internet users worldwide with the ability to document and share their personal narratives,” stated Su Hua, the firm’s founder and CEO, during a press conference on Wednesday.

He also announced that the application has secured the official broadcasting rights for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.