Is it a must for China's online audio platforms to explore overseas markets?
LIZHI INC. (LIZI:NASDAQ), an audio-based social and entertainment platform, on March 16, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. Last year, it achieved a profit on a GAAP basis for the fifth consecutive quarter and realized record high net income for both the fourth quarter and full-year 2022.
According to the financial results, net revenues were CNY 587.6 million (USD 85.2 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022, representing a 5% increase from CNY 560.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. And net revenues were CNY 2,185.3 million (USD 316.8 million) in the fiscal year 2022, representing a 3% increase from CNY 2,119.5 million in the prior year.
Mr. Jinnan (Marco) Lai, Founder and CEO of LIZHI, commented, "2022 was a rewarding year for LIZHI."
The company incubated and launched audio entertainment products continuously in 2022, covering more users with diversified product forms and providing users with diverse interactive entertainment experiences, such as the launch of innovative features such as virtual images, while holding diverse operational activities to strengthen the community atmosphere.
At the earnings conference call on March 16, the company's management stated that LIZHI would comprehensively promote the application of AI chatbots in its business and provide users with an innovative online companionship experience by building an AI chatbot platform to achieve robust global business development.
Founded in 2013, LIZHI has created a comprehensive audio-based social ecosystem with a global presence. The company aims to cater to users' audio entertainment and social networking interests through its product portfolios. LIZHI envisions an audio ecosystem where everyone can be connected and interact through voices. It went public in early 2020, becoming Nasdaq's first Chinese member specializing in online audio entertainment.
In China's online audio sector, LIZHI remains one of the bellwethers, competing with rivals such as Ximalaya FM (Chinese: 喜马拉雅FM) and Qingting FM (Chinese: 蜻蜓FM) since the mid-2010s, which is becoming increasingly fierce since the rise of short video apps.
As of press time, LIZHI closed at USD 0.78 apiece, with a market cap of USD 31.44 million.