Hundreds of millions from rural India are logging into Chinese apps, which talk in regional languages and make local references
On a split screen, a young girl and a boy, in seemingly small-town India, flirt with each other for 15 seconds before the clip goes off the feed. Welcome to TikTok, an impressively popular short-video platform where 50 million people from this country have already registered. That is more than a fifth of Facebook subscribers in India. TikTok, started in 2016, allows users to create 15-second videos, soundtracked by a music clip.
Next, a young woman from a nondescript north eastern Indian city has her audience captivated as she live-streams one of her singing sessions from the comfort of her room. The screen is showered with ‘diamonds’. Each ‘diamond’ can be redeemed by the performer for a payout later. All of this is over LiveMe, an 18-month-old app.
What is common between these two apps? Both are Chinese, and not very old — less than two years. The two are among several Chinese apps that have rapidly gained popularity in India. In 2017, the top 100 Google Play store apps had 18 Chinese apps and, in 2018, this number shot up to 44 (see: App it up). These apps cut across categories but social and video content apps have been the biggest hits. Among the social-content platforms are Helo (a regional language only social network) and SHAREit; and among short-video and live-streaming apps are LiveMe, Vigo Video, BIGO LIVE; and among entertainment apps are TikTok, Kwai and LIKE. A growing number of Chinese apps now feature on the list of top apps in India. (see: Gaining ground)
RAPID GROWTH
This story is from the June 7, 2019 edition of Outlook Business.
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This story is from the June 7, 2019 edition of Outlook Business.
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