Video streamer Bilibili sees losses more than double on increased competition and tighter regulation
- Bilibili’s losses have ballooned amid tighter scrutiny by Beijing of content deemed unhealthy and fierce competition from the likes of Douyin
- The Shanghai-based company has to rely on an army of content reviewers to check uploaded videos to see if they adhere with strict rules
Losses at China’s video-streaming website Bilibili, which has seen its stock price fall 70 per cent since a Hong Kong listing last March, more than doubled in 2021 to 6.8 billion yuan (US$1.07 billion) from the year before, amid rising competition and tighter regulation.
In the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, its net loss amounted to 2.1 billion yuan, according to financial results released by the company on Thursday.
The heavy losses at Bilibili, once touted as the leading online community for China’s Generation Z, highlights the risks of a business model under fire from short video apps such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok owned by ByteDance, and a ruthless regulatory crackdown by Beijing on any content deemed unhealthy.
Bilibili’s losses have ballooned amid tighter scrutiny by Beijing of imported anime, which has eroded the platform’s early appeal as an online home for subculture groups. Meanwhile, rigid control of video gaming, including a seven-month freeze on new game licences, has also hurt growth in gaming revenue momentum.
The Shanghai-based company has to rely on an army of content reviewers to check uploaded videos to see whether content is in line with state regulations – an increasingly costly enterprise given ever-changing rules.
One of its content reviewers, a 25-year-old employee, died last month, although the company denied the sudden death was related to overwork.