Tencent eyes new apps to fend off rivals and offset slower growth in flagships WeChat and QQ
- Tencent, whose WeChat and QQ messaging apps have 1.2 billion and 653 million monthly active users respectively, is seeing its dominance challenged by rivals
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has unveiled several new social networking apps, ramping up efforts to retain user attention amid increasing competition from rivals and slowing growth of its flagship WeChat super app.
The new social networking apps, with features such as videos, online communities and e-commerce, will compete against established rivals like Bytedance and Kuaishou, which dominate China’s short video market, as well as a crop of internet giants that are expanding into social networks.
The new Maohu video app is essentially a dating platform that gives users the ability to choose beautifying filters or overlay cartoon masks when streaming videos to friends or people nearby.
Qingliao, meaning light chat in Chinese, is similar to China’s biggest dating app Tanan. Tencent’s version allows users to chat if they exchange a heart emoji with each other.
“WeChat and QQ are like huge ships … too big to change course to catch a new trend before others
The third new product is a networking app called Youji, meaning life recording. It combines social media and online community features, allowing users to post updates on daily events or browse content based on their interests.
