Facing the threat of a U.S. ban on TikTok, the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has told some investors that it plans to focus more on growth in its home market by expanding into new sectors and trying to develop another hit app, says a ByteDance investor.
Even as ByteDance has faced growing international pressure on TikTok, its Chinese business has boomed. ByteDance’s advertising revenue is expected to rise 60% to as much as $27 billion this year, while the company will also generate revenue from ecommerce. The growth is coming mostly from its Chinese family of apps such as Douyin, a short-form video app similar to TikTok, and Toutiao, a news feed. In the first quarter, ad revenue was north of 40 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) according to a person briefed on the figures.
