Kuaishou is focusing on the immense market potential of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Brazil, with plans to extend its successful business model to the global stage. The company's Chief Financial Officer, Jin Bing, revealed at the Saudi Capital Market Forum that Kuaishou Technology is highly interested in the Middle Eastern market and plans to open an office in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in the near future.
Jin Bing stated, "The MENA region and Brazil harbor tremendous business opportunities. These regions are populous, have strong consumer power, and their people are open to new things, innovative thinking, and new business models." He further noted, "In some ways, China shares commonalities with these markets. Whether in China or these regions, people love to watch high-quality content, enjoy interactive communication, and are willing to purchase goods or services online."
According to its latest 2023 data, Kuaishou's daily active users on its application reached 379.9 million, up from approximately 355.7 million in 2022. Its financial reports and exchange documents show that its average monthly active users reached 678.2 million, compared to 612.7 million in the same period last year. This growth reflects Kuaishou's significant improvement in user engagement.
Kuaishou's exploration of overseas markets started early. As early as 2016, Kuaishou launched its international short video platform, Kwai, and gradually entered countries and regions such as Russia and South Korea. By 2017, Kuaishou's internationalization team had been formed, operating independently to fully promote its globalization strategy. Kwai achieved unexpected success in the South Korean market, surpassing 10 million downloads in October 2017 and topping the video editing app download charts for eight consecutive days. Kwai also performed well in the Russian and Southeast Asian markets.
However, the good times did not last long, and Kwai soon faced the challenge of user attrition. Due to issues in content operation, Kwai's growth momentum gradually slowed. By 2018, with the departure of the head of international business, Liu Xinhua, Kwai's influence in several key markets began to decline, and its position in the App Store download charts Top 10 was gradually overtaken by other applications, losing its previous momentum.
Nevertheless, this experience was both a valuable international attempt and a profound market lesson for Kuaishou. It laid an important foundation for Kuaishou's comprehensive entry into Saudi Arabia and its bid for the Middle Eastern market. This strategic move by Kuaishou demonstrates its deep insights and forward-looking layout in overseas markets, indicating further expansion and development on a global scale.