IN parallel to the global phenomenon that is TikTok, a host of Chinese applications are jumping on the same bandwagon, with platforms for creating and sharing short videos with laughs, music and more. With over 400 million users and an upcoming stock market debut, Kuaishou is an outsider that's on the up.
After Douyin (of which TikTok is the international version) with its 600 million users, Kuaishou is China's next most popular short video sharing application. Like Douyin-TikTok, Kuaishou lets users edit clips easily with features such as animated filters, stickers and text.
When it originally launched in 2011, Kuaishou was nothing more than a modest application designed for making and sharing GIF images. It was only when it turned to video that the app gained considerable popularity. Now, as well as saving and sharing videos, Kuaishou offers online games and has even turned itself into a veritable e-commerce platform. The site currently claims to receive some 500 million orders per month.
And Kuaishou, which is already backed financially by the Chinese web giant Tencent (QQ, WeChat), isn't stopping there. The platform has filed for an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, expected to raise up to $5 billion.
Outside China, the application goes by the name of Kwai and is still relatively unknown. Note that, like TikTok, the app has been banned in India due to alleged data and privacy issues. – ETX Studio, November 17, 2020
