Jimmy Fallon and Jason Derulo are just a couple of foreign stars who have joined the hottest short video trend in China. Making and watching video clips is both entertainment and a way to communicate. It has become so popular that ByteDance, a short video app start-up, has been valued at $75bn. And Baidu, China’s largest search engine, wants a piece of the action. At the expense of its investors.
Baidu is best known for its search engine, with almost three-quarters of this market in China. It has had some success with its Netflix-style video streaming platform iQiyi. But the short video market is a whole new game. While the market is expected to surpass $14bn by next year, according to IHS Markit, it already has too many participants. Tencent, also a late joiner, benefits through access to the massive userbase of its messenger app WeChat.
Regardless, Baidu has continued its aggressive pursuit. It is gaining traction with its existing short clips apps Quanmin and Haokan. Last year these became the two fastest-growing short video apps by user numbers. Baidu has released yet another short video app this year.