A billion short video users, Bilibili annual revenue up by 13% and Luckin Coffee’s up by 66.9%

More than 1 billion people watch short videos in China now, up from 648 million five years ago, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. As of December 2022, the number of Internet users in China reached 1.067 billion, an increase of 35.49 million year-on-year. The internet penetration rate has reached 75.6%. The number of online fitness app users reached 380 million. The largest short video apps in China are ByteDance’s Douyin (600 million daily active users, DAU), Kuaishou (nearly 400 million DAU), Pinduoduo (150 million DAU), and Xiaohongshu (nearly 100 million DAU). In September 2022, Douyin introduced anti-addiction measures for teenagers, including real-name authentication and restrictions on usage. Yesterday, TikTok, the international version of Douyin, announced it would be limiting screen time to 60 minutes for users aged below 18.

Bilibili’s 2022 annual revenue increased by 13% year-on-year to 21.9 billion yuan ($3.17 billion), a much lower level of revenue growth than in recent years. The company reported a net loss of 7.5 billion yuan ($1.08 billion). Bilibili, a video-on-demand website also known as B Site (B站), has been reducing costs, and as a result its 2022 annual net loss decreased by 29% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the site had 326 million monthly active users, a decrease of 7 million from the third quarter, and there were reports of layoffs at the company last year.

Luckin Coffee’s 2022 annual revenue increased by 66.9% year-on-year to 13.29 billion yuan ($1.92 billion), the first time that the company’s annual revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan. Luckin Coffee reported a net profit of 488 million yuan ($70.66 million), a decrease of 15.7% year-on-year. At the end of 2022, the company had a total of 8,214 outlets in China, compared to 6,090 for rival Starbucks. In 2020, Luckin Coffee admitted to inflating its 2019 sales figures by approximately $300 million, and was delisted from Nasdaq. On November 18 2022, the company reported the completion of its debt restructuring and termination of bankruptcy proceedings.