Company:Kuaishou

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Kuaishou Technology
Native name
快手
TypePublic company; partially state-owned
SEHK: Script error: No such module "Leading zeros".&sc_lang=en Script error: No such module "Leading zeros".
IndustryInternet
FoundedMarch 2011; 14 years ago (2011-03)
FounderSu Hua
Cheng Yixiao
Headquarters
Beijing
,
China
Key people
Su Hua (CEO)
OwnerChina Internet Investment Fund (Cyberspace Administration of China)
Beijing Radio and Television Station
Website{{{1}}}
Kwai
Developer(s)Kuaishou Technology
Operating system
TypeVideo sharing
LicenseProprietary software
Websitekwai.com

Kuaishou Technology (Chinese: 快手; pinyin: Kuàishǒu; literally: 'quick hand') is a Chinese publicly traded partly state-owned holding company based in Haidian District, Beijing, that was founded in 2011 by Hua Su (宿华)[1] and Cheng Yixiao (程一笑).[2] The company, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is known for developing a mobile app for sharing users' short videos, a social network, and video special effects editor. The app is known as Kwai in many countries outside of China.[3] It is also known as Snack Video in India, Pakistan and Indonesia.[4]

Ownership and governance

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.[5]

The China Internet Investment Fund, a state-owned enterprise controlled by the Cyberspace Administration of China, holds a golden share ownership stake in Kuaishou.[6]

History

Kuaishou is China's first short video platform[7] that was 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.[8] The company is headquartered in Haidian District, Beijing.[9]

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.[10] By 2019, it had exceeded 200 million active daily users.[11]

In March 2017, Kuaishou closed a US$350 million investment round that was led by Tencent.[10] In January 2018, Forbes estimated the company's valuation to be US$18 billion.[8]

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.[12]

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.[13]

In June 2020, following the start of the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes, the Government of India banned Kwai along with 58 other apps, citing "data and privacy issues".[14]

In January 2021, Kuaishou announced it was planning an initial public offering (IPO) to raise approximately US$5 billion.[15] 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).[16][17]

In February 2021, Kuaishou made a debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with its shares soaring by 194% at the opening.[18] The company subsequently encountered major setbacks as a result of heightened regulatory restrictions on Chinese internet firms, which contributed to its share price falling by nearly 80% from its post-IPO peak..[19] By December 2021, Kuaishou announced a major reorganization, including the layoff of 30% of its staff, primarily targeting mid-level employees earning an annual salary of $157,000 or more. This restructuring aimed to cut costs and mitigate financial losses.[19]

In October 2022, state-owned Beijing Radio and Television Station took a minority ownership stake in Kuaishou.[20]

In April 2024, a Financial Times article citing current and former Kuaishou employees stated that the company has been running an ageist redundancy programme known internally as "Limestone", culling workers in their mid-30s.[21] In June 2024, Kuaishou and the Sichuan international communication center launched a branch center in São Paulo, Brazil.[22]

In June 2024, Kuaishou released its diffusion transformer text-to-video model, Kling, which they claimed could generate two minutes of video at 30 frames per second and in 1080p resolution. The model has been compared to that of OpenAI's Sora text-to-video model. It is accessible to the public on Kuaishou's video editing app KwaiCut via signing up for a waitlist with a Chinese phone number.[23][24][25]

Popularity and controversy

As of 2019, it had a worldwide user base of over 200 million,[26] leading the "Most Downloaded" lists of the Google Play and Apple App Store in eight countries, such as Brazil, where it was introduced in 2019.[3] Its main short-video platform competitor was Douyin, which is known as TikTok outside China.[27] Compared to Douyin, Kuaishou is more popular with older users living outside China's Tier 1 cities. Its initial popularity came from videos of Chinese rural life.[7][28] Kuaishou also relied more on e-commerce revenue than on advertising revenue compared to its main competitor.[29]

Kwai (as the app is called outside of China) was banned in India in 2020 along with other short video apps like TikTok.[30][31] Kuaishou then released the clone SnackVideo, which was subsequently also banned.[32] The app is one of the most popular social media platforms in Brazil, where Kuaishou partnered with creators to make telenovela style content,[33] and appeals to football fans by working with football teams CR Flamengo and Santos FC and sponsoring the tournament Copa América.[34] Kwai was notable in Brazil for spreading information (and misinformation) about the COVID-19 vaccine[3] and political misinformation.[35] According to the company, it is continuing to develop its overseas markets markets, especially in Latin America, the UAE and Nigeria.[36]

See also

  • List of Kuaishou original programming
  • List of content platforms by monthly active users

References

  1. ↑ Synced (2019-08-12). "Tencent-backed Video App Kuaishou Is Turning Chinese Country Folk Into Hollywood Directors Synced". https://syncedreview.com/2019/08/12/tencent-backed-video-app-kuaishou-is-turning-chinese-country-folk-into-hollywood-directors/. 
  2. ↑ "Is short-video start-up Kuaishou too 'Zen' for China's internet culture?". 2019-06-20. https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3015148/short-video-start-kuaishou-too-zen-chinas-internet-culture-its. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fernandes-de-Oliveira, Geilson; Massarani, Luisa; Alves-dos-Santos-Junior, Marcelo; Scalfi, Graziele; Oliveira, Thaiane (2024-09-01). "The COVID-19 vaccine on the short-video platform Kwai: A study of the emotions expressed in Brazilian content" (in EN). Cultures of Science 7 (3): 166–183. doi:10.1177/20966083241280684. ISSN 2096-6083. 
  4. ↑ "Tencent-backed Kwai App ranked Most Popular social short video app". https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tencent-backed-kwai-app-ranked-most-popular-social-short-video-app-1025560745. 
  5. ↑ "Billionaire Who Missed Out on TikTok Is Trying to Beat It". Bloomberg.com. 21 July 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-21/billionaire-who-missed-out-on-tiktok-is-now-trying-to-beat-it. 
  6. ↑ "China's communist authorities are tightening their grip on the private sector". The Economist. 2021-11-18. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/business/chinas-communist-authorities-reinvent-state-capitalism/21806311. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Is Kuaishou Still China's Short Video "Platform for the People?"". 2021-01-08. https://radiichina.com/kuaishou/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Su Hua" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/profile/su-hua/. 
  9. ↑ "Bloomberg Company Profile: Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd". https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/1496219D:CH. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Behind the success of Kuaishou, the biggest social video sharing app in China". Technode. May 17, 2017. https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/. 
  11. ↑ "Is short-video start-up Kuaishou too 'Zen' for China's internet culture?". 2019-06-20. https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3015148/short-video-start-kuaishou-too-zen-chinas-internet-culture-its. 
  12. ↑ Zhong, Raymond (2018-04-06). "China Isn't Happy About Its Newest Internet Stars: Teenage Moms" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/technology/china-censor-teen-moms.html. 
  13. ↑ Li, Jane (September 20, 2019). "China's tech giants are helping the Communist Party's newspaper fine-tune its online voice" (in en). https://qz.com/1712688/chinas-tech-giants-work-with-peoples-daily-on-ai-news/. 
  14. ↑ Shrivastava, Rahul (June 29, 2020). "Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok as border tensions simmer in Ladakh" (in en). https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/centre-announces-ban-chinese-apps-privacy-issues-1695265-2020-06-29. 
  15. ↑ Chiu, Joanne (25 January 2021). "China's Love of TikTok-Style Apps Powers $5 Billion IPO". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-video-app-firm-kuaishou-launches-5-4-billion-ipo-in-hong-kong-11611539631. 
  16. ↑ "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. https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3120627/kuaishou-shares-nearly-triples-trading-debut-hong-kongs. 
  17. ↑ Chiu, Joanne (5 February 2021). "TikTok Rival's Stock More Than Doubles in Hong Kong Debut". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-video-ipo-goes-viral-with-investors-11612435062. 
  18. ↑ "Análise: Felipe Zmoginski - Rival do TikTok, app de vídeos quer emplacar streaming e comércio ao vivo" (in pt-br). https://www.uol.com.br/tilt/colunas/felipe-zmoginski/2021/02/17/rival-da-tiktok-quer-conquistar-o-brasil-com-streaming-e-comercio-ao-vivo.htm. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Kuaishou reportedly lays off 30% of mid-level staff amid sweeping crackdowns" (in en). 2021-12-07. https://kr-asia.com/kuaishou-reportedly-lays-off-30-of-mid-level-staff-amid-sweeping-crackdowns. 
  20. ↑ "Chinese state broadcaster takes 1 per cent stake in short video app Kuaishou" (in en). 2022-11-07. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3198731/beijing-broadcasters-1-cent-stake-short-video-app-kuaishou-latest-sign-increasing-state-influence. 
  21. ↑ Kai, Waluszewski; Olcott, Eleanor (23 April 2024). "China's ageing tech workers hit by 'curse of 35'". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/5cf306ad-3a39-4357-b7b3-1d2644bb13a7. 
  22. ↑ Bandurski, David (2024-06-28). "Olá Panda!" (in en-US). https://chinamediaproject.org/2024/06/28/ola-panda/. 
  23. ↑ Morrison, Ryan (June 7, 2024). "Forget Sora — Kling is a killer new AI video model that just dropped and I'm impressed". Future US. https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/forget-sora-kling-is-a-killer-new-ai-video-model-that-just-dropped-and-im-impressed. 
  24. ↑ Franzen, Carl (June 12, 2024). "What you need to know about Kling, the AI video generator rival to Sora that's wowing creators". https://venturebeat.com/ai/what-you-need-to-know-about-kling-the-ai-video-generator-rival-to-sora-thats-wowing-creators/. 
  25. ↑ Yang, Zeyi (June 19, 2024). "I tested out a buzzy new text-to-video AI model from China". https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/19/1094027/kling-kuaishou-video-ai-china/. 
  26. ↑ Synced (2019-08-12). "Tencent-backed Video App Kuaishou Is Turning Chinese Country Folk Into Hollywood Directors". https://syncedreview.com/2019/08/12/tencent-backed-video-app-kuaishou-is-turning-chinese-country-folk-into-hollywood-directors/. 
  27. ↑ "One of China's hottest video apps is flirting with video gaming" (in en). 2018-12-19. https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/2178668/tencent-backed-short-video-app-kuaishou-launches-mini-game-similar. 
  28. ↑ "From Douyin to Kuaishou: A visual look at China's hottest short video apps" (in en). 2018-09-04. https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3028789/douyin-kuaishou-visual-look-chinas-hottest-short-video-apps. 
  29. ↑ Chen, Tingyi (2020-02-24). "Why is Kuaishou Better than Douyin for E-commerce Conversion & Social Engagement" (in en-US). https://walkthechat.com/why-is-kuaishou-better-than-douyin-for-e-commerce-conversion-social-engagement/. 
  30. ↑ Zhong, Raymond; Schultz, Kai (2020-06-30). "With India's TikTok Ban, the World's Digital Walls Grow Higher" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/technology/india-china-tiktok.html. 
  31. ↑ Ministry of Electronics & IT (India) (2020-06-29). "Government Bans 59 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1635206. 
  32. ↑ "Digital policy think tank seeks ban on Snack Video app". The Economic Times. 2020-10-23. ISSN 0013-0389. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-bytes/digital-policy-think-tank-seeks-ban-on-snack-video-app/articleshow/78821644.cms. 
  33. ↑ "TikTok's biggest Chinese competitor bets big on Brazil" (in en-US). 2022-03-09. https://restofworld.org/2022/tiktok-competitor-kwai-brazil/. 
  34. ↑ Allego, Rafelle (2021-09-14). "Chinese Kwai platform teams up with Brazilian football clubs" (in en-US). https://macaonews.org/life/chinese-kwai-platform-teams-up-with-brazilian-football-clubs/. 
  35. ↑ Hale, Scott A; Belisario, Adriano; Mostafa, Ahmed Nasser; Camargo, Chico (2024-09-01). "Analyzing Misinformation Claims During the 2022 Brazilian General Election on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Kwai". International Journal of Public Opinion Research 36 (3). doi:10.1093/ijpor/edae032. ISSN 1471-6909. https://academic.oup.com/ijpor/article/36/3/edae032/7709027. 
  36. ↑ 金丹. "Kuaishou's journey of commercial evolution in emerging markets". https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202503/02/WS67d0f077a310c240449da5b4.html. 
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