Chinese video streaming platform Bilibili has proposed the goal of doubling its current daily active users (DAU), according to local media outlet LatePost. The target was discussed during a mid-year internal meeting, although the company did not specify a clear timeframe for its achievement.
Why it matters: User growth is crucial for content-based Bilibili as an increase in this figure could boost the firm’s advertising revenue and push to create new content, with the company aiming to achieve profitability by 2024.
- In the second quarter, Bilibili’s average DAU reached 96.5 million, marking a 15% year-on-year growth and an increase of 2.8 million compared to the previous quarter. However, its MAU has declined for two consecutive quarters. Despite this challenge, the company successfully reduced its losses by 51% year-on-year during this period, bringing them down to RMB 964 million.
Details: Increasing the supply of high-quality content, and expanding the scenarios available for Bilibili users are the platform’s core strategies for doubling its DAUs, LatePost reported.
- The first strategy aligns with a recent remark made by the company’s chief operating officer Li Ni, during the ANIME MADE BY BILIBILI 2023-2024 event. She emphasized that Bilibili’s investment in original content will “not decrease but only increase” over the next three years.
- Before directing investors to focus on the DAU to MAU ratio in 2022, CEO Chen Rui expressed his confidence during the earnings call over the Q4 2020 financial report that Bilibili could achieve 400 million monthly active users by the end of 2023. The figure exceeded 300 million in the second quarter of the previous year, and reached 324 million in the second quarter of this year.
Context: Bilibili, a long-form video platform primarily favored by Gen Z users, currently offers a wide range of content genres, including anime, TV shows, variety shows, documentaries, and live streaming. Notably, in response to the growing impact of short video platforms, Bilibili has bet big on shorter vertical videos over the past year, aiming to attract new audiences.
- Story Mode, the short video format on the platform, coupled with Bilibili’s pursuit of profitability has led to reduced incentives for content creators who regularly produce long videos with substantial influence on the platform. Several creators publicly announced this April that they would temporarily suspend content updates.
- The Chinese animated series Yao-Chinese Folktales, a collaboration between Bilibili and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, went live on Jan.1 this year and has already accumulated over 290 million views on Bilibili. The company has announced the commencement of production for the second season of the animation.
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