- IQ Plummets on Wide Q3 Operating Loss
- China's Top Netflix-Style App Deepens its Bets on In-House Shows
The Beijing, China-based company said that for its third quarter of fiscal 2018, it brought in total revenue of RMB6.9 billion ($1 billion), which marks a 48% increase compared to the same period in its fiscal 2017.
iQiyi said that its operating loss for the period tallied up to RMB2.6 billion ($377.3 million), while the company’s operating loss margin was 37%, compared to an operating loss of RMB1.1 billion and an operating loss margin of 23% during the same period in fiscal 2017.
Chief Technology Officer Wenfeng Liu said it will prioritize in-house productions, especially short-form shows designed for smartphones, as it competes with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plus rising social video apps. IQiyi this month unveiled more than 200 new shows for 2019 -- from reality programs such as “The Rap of China” and “Idol Producer” to anime and movies.
“In-house production helps us differentiate and build a brand,” Liu told Bloomberg News at the Asia Society’s China-U.S. Cultural Investment Forum in New York. “If there’s no differentiation, it will be very challenging.”
The company was late to short-form video -- a burgeoning format popularized by Bytedance’s Douyin and Kuaishou that’s taken China by storm --- but wants to become a major player within one to three years, Chief Executive Officer Gong Yu said in May. To differentiate, it’s betting on high-quality shows of two to five minutes per episode, with a total of about 10 episodes, Liu said.
No comments:
Post a Comment