Kuaishou

Kuaishou Technology (Chinese: 快手; lit. 'quick hand') is a Chinese publicly traded partly state-owned holding company based in Haidian District (Beijing), founded in 2011 by Hua Su (宿华)[1] and Cheng Yixiao (程一笑).[2] The company is known for developing a mobile app for sharing users' short videos, a social network, and video special effects editor.

Kuaishou Snack Video
Native name
快手
TypePublic company; partially state-owned
SEHK: 1024
IndustryInternet
FoundedMarch 2011 (2011-03)
FounderSu Hua
Cheng Yixiao
Headquarters
Beijing
,
China
Key people
Su Hua (CEO)
RevenueIncrease US$ 9.1 billion (2020)
OwnerChina Internet Investment Fund (Cyberspace Administration of China)
Beijing Radio and Television Station
Websitewww.kuaishou.com

As of 2019, it has a worldwide user base of over 200 million,[3] leading the "Most Downloaded" lists of the Google Play and Apple App Store in eight countries, such as Brazil. In Pakistan and Indonesia, this app is known as Snack Video.[4] It is often referred to as "Kwai" in overseas markets. Its main competitor is Douyin, which is known as TikTok outside China.[5]

Kuaishou's overseas team is led by the former CEO of the application 99, and staff from Google, Facebook, Netflix and TikTok were recruited to lead the company's international expansion.[6]

The China Internet Investment Fund, a state-owned enterprise controlled by the Cyberspace Administration of China, holds a partial ownership stake in Kuaishou.[7]

History

Kuaishou is China's first short video platform.[8] developed in 2011 by engineer Hua Su and Cheng Yixiao. Prior to co-founding Kuaishou, Su Hua had worked for both Google and Baidu as a software engineer.[9] The company is headquartered in Haidian District, Beijing.[10]

Kuaishou's predecessor "GIF Kuaishou" was founded in March 2011. GIF Kuaishou was a mobile app with which users could make and share GIF pictures. In November 2012, Kuaishou became a short video community and a platform with which users could record and share videos. By 2013, the app had reached 100 million daily users.[11] By 2019, it exceeded 200 million active daily users.[12]

In March 2017, Kuaishou closed a US$350 million investment round that was led by Tencent.[11] In January 2018, Forbes estimated the company's valuation to be US$18 billion.[9]

In April 2018, Kuaishou's app was briefly banned from Chinese app stores after China Central Television (CCTV) reported on the platform popularizing videos of teenage mothers.[13]

In 2019, the company announced a partnership with the People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, to help it experiment with the use of artificial intelligence in news.[14]

In June 2020, the Government of India banned Kwai along with 58 other apps, citing "data and privacy issues".[15] The 2020 border tensions between India and China might have also played a role in the ban, there having been an increasingly political "Boycott China" movement in India due to the competitive relations between the two countries in recent years.

In January 2021, Kuaishou announced it was planning an initial public offering (IPO) to raise approximately US$5 billion.[16] Kuaishou's stock completed its first day of trading at $300 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) (US$38.70), more than doubling its initial offer price, and causing its market value to rise to over $1 trillion HKD (US$159 billion).[17][18]

In February 2021, shares of Kuaishou rose 194% at the opening on its Hong Kong debut.[19][20] Kuaishou was one of the companies worse-hit by the regulatory restrictions on Chinese internet companies and its share price fell nearly 80% from its highest point since going public.[21] In December 2021, it was announced Kuaishou would lay off 30% of its staff, mainly mid-level employees with an annual salary of US$157,000 or more. The reorganization was done to help Kuaishou cut costs and reverse losses.[21]

In October 2022, state-owned Beijing Radio and Television Station took a minority ownership stake in Kuaishou.[22]

Popularity

Compared to Douyin, Kuaishou is more popular with older users who live outside China's Tier 1 cities. Its initial popularity came from videos of Chinese rural life.[8][23] Kuaishou also relies more on e-commerce revenue than on advertising revenue compared to its main competitor.[24] Unlike Douyin, Kuaishou's algorithm rewards content creators boasting a highly engaged user base.[25]

See also

References
  1. Synced (2019-08-12). "Tencent-backed Video App Kuaishou Is Turning Chinese Country Folk Into Hollywood Directors Synced". syncedreview.com. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  2. "Is short-video start-up Kuaishou too 'Zen' for China's internet culture?". South China Morning Post. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  3. Synced (2019-08-12). "Tencent-backed Video App Kuaishou Is Turning Chinese Country Folk Into Hollywood Directors". Synced. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  4. "Tencent-backed Kwai App ranked Most Popular social short video app". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  5. "One of China's hottest video apps is flirting with video gaming". South China Morning Post. 2018-12-19. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  6. "Billionaire Who Missed Out on TikTok Is Trying to Beat It". Bloomberg.com. 21 July 2021.
  7. "China's communist authorities are tightening their grip on the private sector". The Economist. 2021-11-18. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  8. "Is Kuaishou Still China's Short Video "Platform for the People?"". RADII Stories from the center of China's youth culture. 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  9. "Su Hua". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  10. "Bloomberg Company Profile: Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  11. "Behind the success of Kuaishou, the biggest social video sharing app in China". Technode. May 17, 2017. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  12. "Is short-video start-up Kuaishou too 'Zen' for China's internet culture?". South China Morning Post. 2019-06-20. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  13. Zhong, Raymond (2018-04-06). "China Isn't Happy About Its Newest Internet Stars: Teenage Moms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  14. Li, Jane (September 20, 2019). "China's tech giants are helping the Communist Party's newspaper fine-tune its online voice". Quartz. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  15. Shrivastava, Rahul (June 29, 2020). "Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok as border tensions simmer in Ladakh". India Today. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  16. Chiu, Joanne (25 January 2021). "China's Love of TikTok-Style Apps Powers $5 Billion IPO". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  17. "Kuaishou shares jump 161 per cent in debut as Hong Kong's hottest IPO paves way for offerings from rival video-sharing app owners". South China Morning Post. 5 Feb 2021.
  18. Chiu, Joanne (5 February 2021). "TikTok Rival's Stock More Than Doubles in Hong Kong Debut". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  19. "Kuaishou Shares Jump 194% in Hong Kong Trading Debut". 5 February 2021.
  20. "Análise: Felipe Zmoginski - Rival do TikTok, app de vídeos quer emplacar streaming e comércio ao vivo". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  21. "Kuaishou reportedly lays off 30% of mid-level staff amid sweeping crackdowns". KrASIA. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  22. "Chinese state broadcaster takes 1 per cent stake in short video app Kuaishou". South China Morning Post. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  23. "From Douyin to Kuaishou: A visual look at China's hottest short video apps". South China Morning Post. 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  24. Chen, Tingyi (2020-02-24). "Why is Kuaishou Better than Douyin for E-commerce Conversion & Social Engagement". WalktheChat. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  25. "Kuaishou is much more than just another TikTok – behind the Chinese short video platform with the anticipated IPO". Daxue Consulting. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
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