TikTok UK suffered a loss of $119 million in 2019

Due to its higher spending on advertising and marketing, Chinese short video app, TikTok, records a loss of $119 million in the UK in 2019. Nevertheless, its parent company, ByteDance, did not disclose TikTok’s global revenue data. According to the latest declaration from the company,  its sales in the UK in 2019 hit $20 million. In addition, its annual sales and marketing expenses were $109 million. In contrast, ByteDance had revenue of more than $17 billion in 2019. The company also records a net profit of over $3 billion. According to data from a startup tracking agency, CB Insights, Bytedance’s valuation is now at $140 billion dollars. TikTok UK is doing exceptionally well. 

In just a few years, TikTok has become one of the most popular apps in the world, especially among teenagers. At the end of 2018, TikTok had only a few employees in the UK. Since then, the company has been accelerating its expansion, recruiting hundreds of employees from its social media competitors, and considering London as its international headquarters. 

A TikTok spokesperson said: “As of today, TikTok has more than 100 million users in the UK and Europe. We are excited about the future growth potential. These numbers reflect the results of TikTok’s early development and investment in the UK.”

ByteDance stated in a document submitted by the United Kingdom: “It is considering certain strategic options related to the future operating structure of TikTok’s global business, but any changes will not have a direct impact on the UK business.”

Putin’s “daughter” is allegedly developing a Russian version of TikTok

TikTok has been flourishing globally but it is also facing a lot of hurdles in recent times. However, if there is something TikTok has done, it gave a lot of developers a good business idea. Many apps in different parts of the world are using TikTok’s ideas. However, the Chinese short video app is still doing well especially in terms of revenue and downloads. A recent report shows that the Russian version of TikTok will be coming soon.

According to reports, the transcontinental already have an advance plan in place to launch this app. Russia’s top media house run by state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, will release a short video sharing application. The operation and features of this app will be similar to TikTok. A Russian organization, Innopraktika foundation, is also part of the development of this app. Interestingly, this organization is run by Vladimir Putin’s “daughter”, Katerina Tikhonova.

According to Gazprom CEO, Alexander Zharov, the development of the app is going on smoothly. He also confirmed the involvement of Innopraktika foundation in the development of this app. Gazprom purchased a service called “Ya Molodets” which means “I am great”. Gazprom-Media will “use the project’s software to speed up the creation of a new video service for Russian bloggers,”

According to Zharov, the Russian version of TikTok will be officially available within two years. It will support short vertical videos, similar to ByteDance’s TikTok. Furthermore, this app has been in development for some time. Zharov said it has been in development for “about a year to modernize it and make it no worse than YouTube in terms of tools.”