ByteDance is a Chinese company, which has developed the most famous as well as one of the most trending applications, TikTok. On June 17, an internal memo released to staff which revealed that the company’s total revenue has been jumped by 11% to $34.3 billion for year ending in 2020. The company said that “the figures underscore TikTok’s continued to increase owing to global popularity of the application.” Additionally, the company has also reported its annual gross profit to rise by 93% to $19 billion. However, ByteDance has also recorded the net loss of $45 billion for the same year, owing to the increasing pressure from governments around the world to the company, as well to other Chinese technology giants. Although, the loss reported was incurred from one of the company’s accounting adjustments.
The net loss incurred by ByteDance in 2020 was also attributed by the step-down of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-founder Zhang Yiming. In May 2021, Yiming was replaced by Rubo Liang as new CEO of ByteDance. Zhang disclosed the news on the company’s website with a message for the company, he wrote “I lack some of the skills which make an ideal manager. I am inclined towards analysing organizational and market principles rather than actual managing people.”
ByteDance has been scrutinised by the governments across the globe including the US and China due to rise in popularity of the TikTok. For instance, in 2021, the President of the US Joe Biden signed an order, which advised some Chinese applications to take tougher measures to protect the user data, in order to continue their operations in the US market. However, the former President of the US Donald Trump has banned several Chinese apps such as TikTok and WeChat, which never came into force due to various legal challenges. During the earlier administration, the President continuously attacked ByteDance and accused TikTok for being a threat to the US national security. Besides, the US Department of Commerce said that that they would review the applications designs and development in the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary such as China.
Furthermore, in April 2021, Chinese regulators invited 13 online platforms including ByteDance, advising them to adhere to tighter regulations in their financial divisions. With these regulations, the regulatory aim is to prevent the companies from creating monopoly in the market across the globe. Beijing has always encouraged the technology giants to grow and expand, while adhering to the policies and regulations suggested by the authorities.
