ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of massively popular psyop against western teenagers TikTok, has achieved a massive 60 percent increase in profits for 2023, outpacing Chinese competitors like gaming giant Tencent.
Bloomberg reports that ByteDance’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) skyrocketed to more than $40 billion in 2023, a staggering 60 percent increase from the previous year’s $25 billion. The company’s revenue also saw substantial growth, reaching nearly $120 billion, up from $80 billion in 2022.
ByteDance’s success can be attributed to its ability to leverage its popular short-video platforms to expand into international e-commerce and maintain its global popularity. The company’s domestic app, Douyin, has evolved into an all-in-one platform, encroaching on the territories of rivals such as Tencent’s WeChat, Alibaba’s e-commerce, and Meituan’s food delivery services.
Overseas, the successful rollout of TikTok Shop in markets like the United States and Southeast Asia has unlocked new revenue sources beyond digital marketing. TikTok aims to grow its US e-commerce business tenfold this year, capitalizing on its 170 million users in the country.
However, ByteDance faces challenges in its most lucrative market, the United States. In March, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok unless ByteDance sells the app. The measure’s outcome in the Senate remains uncertain, and the upcoming presidential rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, along with Beijing’s response, could further complicate matters.
Despite these obstacles, ByteDance has started to streamline its operations by cutting jobs in its gaming development and enterprise software units, which had failed to meet expectations. The company is now focusing on catching up with the latest trend in generative AI by building its own chatbots and large language models.
