่ถฃๅคดๆก็ฌฌไธ‰ๅญฃๅบฆ่ดขๆŠฅ๏ผšๆ—ฅๆดป่พพ2130ไธ‡ ๅ‡€ไบๆŸ่ถ…10ไบฟ โ€“ Xinhua News Agency

What happened: Nasdaq-listed Qutoutiao, a news and content distribution platform, reported an unaudited net loss of RMB 1.3 billion ($150.5 million) for the third quarter of 2018, an 8886.1% increase from the same period last year. The companyโ€™s net revenues for the period were RMB 977.3 million, an increase of 520.3% from RMB 157.6 million year-over-year. Apart from increasing costs to retain users, share-based compensation expenses of RMB 717.7 million were recognized to consolidate corporate loyalty and encourage contribution. This is Qutoutiaoโ€™s first fiscal report since itโ€™s IPO in September. Qutoutiaoโ€™s average daily active users for the quarter were 21.3 million, up 229.0% year-over-year.

Why itโ€™s important: The Chinese business model โ€œseize market share first, and think about profitability laterโ€ is seeing increasing costs. As giants such as Tencent join the content game with new projects designed for their ecosystemโ€”Tencent recently updated QQโ€™s algorithm-supported community recommendation features to improve user experienceโ€”itโ€™s getting harder and harder for up and comers to keep users and maintain a competitive team. Meanwhile, content production and distribution is facing rising pressure from Beijing. A few hours ago, Beijing reportedly cracked down over 9,800 WeChat subscription accounts.

Runhua Zhao is a technology reporter based in Beijing. Connect with her via email: runhuazhao@ovau.ip-ddns.com

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