Chinese video platform Bilibili hit a record of more than 65 million daily active users (DAUs), making it China’s third-largest long-form video site, following iQiyi and Tencent Video, Late Post reported (in Chinese) on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Despite slowing growth, the figure marks a milestone for Bilibili, which has surpassed Alibaba-owned Youku to take the third spot.
Details: Bilibili’s DAUs still lag behind short video platform rivals Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version) and Kuaishou, which recorded 580 million in February and 295.3 million in the first quarter of this year, respectively.
- Bilibili’s DAUs rose 8.1% from 60.1 million in the first quarter.
- The report also revealed that the average amount of time users spend on Bilibili exceeds 80 minutes, trailing Douyin’s 100 minutes.
READ MORE: CHINA VOICES | ‘Bilibili is becoming Chinese YouTube’
Context: Founded in 2009, Bilibili initially attracted young Chinese internet users interested in animation, comics, and gaming. The company has since evolved into a mainstream video site as it diversified its content offerings and expanded its user base in recent years.
- In 2020, the company set up a special department to expand its users base and scaled up investments in long-form video content, including TV shows, films, and documentaries.
- The growth effort is partly driven by the company’s forecast of future trends. Bilibili’s CEO Chen Rui told Late Post in 2019 that he thinks Chinese content platforms with a market cap of less than $10 billion may face market elimination within the next three years. Bilibili was valued at $7 billion at the time. Now, the company is valued at more than $30 billion.