Chinese online audio platform Ximalaya climbs a mountain to eke out first-ever profit, people say
- Online audio platform Ximalaya has earned its first ever profit, helped by cost-cutting and a sharper user focus, company’s CEO reportedly tells internal meeting
- Analysts say the online audio platform sector can grow in China, helped by rise of in-car entertainment
Online audio platform Ximalaya has moved into the black for the first time since it was founded in 2012, racking up a fourth-quarter profit of over 10 million yuan (US$1.48 million) amid tough competition for user attention in China from short video services.
Yu Jianjun, the company’s 45-year-old co-founder and chief executive, announced the milestone at a recent internal meeting, ascribing the accomplishment to the company’s efforts to rein in costs, better serving user needs and organisational streamlining, according to people familiar with the situation who declined to be named.
Local media ITHome first reported the news. Ximalaya did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ximalaya has raised more than US$700 million in nine rounds of fundraising. It is backed by Chinese internet powerhouses Tencent Holdings, Baidu and Xiaomi, and venture capital firms including General Atlantic and Primavera Capital, and entertainment giant Sony Music Entertainment, according to start-up database service Crunchbase.
The decade-long trek to a profit indicates the tough terrain for audio platforms.
Ximalaya withdrew its IPO application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the middle of 2021, only a few months after filing in late April, at a time when China was tightening its grip on the overseas listing plans of domestic technology companies and amid rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.