TikTok lookalike Zynn brings Chinese video app rivalry to US
Chinese short video iphone app makers took their rivalry overseas, with TikTok facing stiff competition from a newcomer which has surged in popularity abroad - by paying users to keep scrolling.
Zynn, a product of China’s number-two video app maker Kuaishou, launched in-may and became the most popular free app in america Apple App Store simply a month later.
With Zynn, Kuaishou is wanting to dethrone TikTok, the software by its Beijing-based competitor Bytedance that has been a worldwide sensation.
Zynn’s interface is a near-clone of TikTok, allowing users to see a continuing feed of short videos featuring other users dancing or performing stunts to upbeat music.
But unlike TikTok, Zynn promises more than just entertainment.
Zynn, which isn't obtainable in China, rewards users in the US and Canada with cash when they invite friends to download the application - up to $20 per invite, according to how active the friend is on the app.
Users also earn points for simply watching videos, which can then be changed into cash.
Zynn’s model is familiar to users in China, where startups have thrown an incredible number of yuan in gifts and cash at users so as to grab a more substantial share of the marketplace than competitors offering almost identical services.
Nasdaq-listed news aggregator Qutoutiao was one of the primary apps to provide users cash rewards in what it calls “loyalty programmes” that “cost-effectively acquire new users”.
“It requires persons who are sensitive to small financial incentives which there are plenty in China’s vast inland rural areas,” Shanghai-based mobile technology expert Matthew Brennan told AFP.
Kuaishou is going for a gamble in exporting its model to North America, where few software have were able to build long-term audiences by paying persons to use them.
Success will be based upon whether the primary attraction of the application is the money shared, or whether payment is “merely a secondary ‘side benefit’ to using Zynn”, Rui Ma, a tech advisor and host of the Tech Buzz China podcast, told AFP.
Most online reviews of Zynn are centered on the cash reward system, with reviewers either complaining about being struggling to withdraw their winnings or grateful for the amounts they’ve made off the app. - ‘Money-making app’ -
Kuaishou has chosen a “smart” time for Zynn’s debut, with many young persons stuck at home due to COVID-19, and with the summertime holidays approaching, said Man-Chung Cheung, an analyst at Insider Intelligence.
But in the long term, retaining users will be based upon Zynn’s “capability to attract top content creators, talent and brands to talk about videos”, Cheung told AFP.
Kuaishou will also need to cope with rising China-US tensions, which have already put rival TikTok and other Chinese tech companies under increased scrutiny from the government.
US officials have warned that TikTok, which includes denied any ties with the Chinese government, could become another tool exploited by Chinese intelligence services.
Zynn has sought to downplay its Chinese origins, with its website offering little info on its background and giving an address in Palo Alto, California.
Zynn spokesman Rocky Zhang confirmed that Kuaishou is behind the upstart app.
“Zynn is something only for the united states, and we launched Zynn for the united states,” he told AFP.
Zhang said Zynn plans to keep paying users in the long run, but will shift towards rewarding “content creators” later on, while generating revenue through advertising.
Old rivals
A years-long rivalry between massive Chinese tech companies lies behind Kuaishou’s new foray over the Pacific and into THE UNITED STATES.
Kuaishou is backed by Tencent, the Chinese tech giant behind payment and social media app WeChat, which includes long sought to expand its share of the short-video market.
The Chinese short-video industry is likely to generate nearly 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) in advertising earnings by 2021, according to Daxue Consulting.
Tencent has launched a number of short-video apps of its, but none have reached the amount of popularity enjoyed by Kuaishou and TikTok’s Chinese version, Douyin.
Kuaishou in February said it had reached 300 million daily active users, just behind Douyin, which said it hit 400 million users in January.
In May, Kuaishou sued Douyin for redirecting looks for “Kuaishou” on a third-party Chinese application store to adds for the Bytedance app, a court in Beijing said.
When asked about the similarity between TikTok and Zynn, Zhang said the application had not been “targeting any brands existing out there”.
Source: www.theindependentbd.com
