As political scrutiny continues to intensify over the massively popular short-video app TikTok in the United States and around the world, ByteDance-owned Lemon8 is going viral.
Jakub Porzycki | Take a photo | beautiful pictures
Chinese tech giant ByteDance is pushing for another social media app in the US – even as its flagship short video app TikTok faces a possible ban in the states.
While it could be part of ByteDance’s business strategy, a new product to replace TikTok isn’t the best solution, analysts told CNBC.
“It’s certainly exciting times. It seems like ByteDance is promoting Lemon8 as a potential alternative to TikTok,” said Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging technologies at the German Marshall Fund.
In March, ByteDance invited creators to use its “new Lemon8 platform” before it officially launched in the United States, citing the success of its “TikTok sister company,” according to Media reports.
Lemon8, a combination of Instagram and Pinterestwas first launched in Japan in early 2020. The lifestyle app focusing on health, beauty, and beauty has quickly climbed the charts in the US.
According to analytics firm data.ai, Lemon8 has risen 693 places to become The second most downloaded lifestyle app in the US in the last 30 dayspush the Zillow real estate market to third place while trailing Pinterest.
Lemon8 has accumulated 17 million downloads globally since its launch, according to Apptopia.
You can think of this as a competitive move by a company trying to expand into different markets and consumer segments with longer written content and more image-based content instead of just plain text. short video.
Lindsay Gorman
Senior Member, German Marshall Fund
“Some of the algorithms used in Lemon8 are similar or completely similar to the recommendation algorithms in TikTok, which of course will make both of those apps extremely popular as they give you the best of both worlds. what you want to see, etc,” said Glenn Gerstell, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
‘A business strategy’
Lemon8’s popularity comes as US lawmakers consider whether TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is Chinese-owned, need to divest in popular short video app which has come under scrutiny.
In March, US lawmakers questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Congress for answers about TikTok’s ability to operate independently of China’s influence over its parent company. The congressional questioning did not seem to assuage lawmakers’ concerns.
Analysts like Gorman say that promoting Lemon8 aggressively could be seen as a “competitive move” by the company as it tries to “expand into other markets and consumer segments” with longer and more image-based written content rather than just brief content”. video.”
Lemon8 will initially focus on areas such as fashion, beauty, health and fitness.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
“It’s definitely a business strategy. [There’s] there’s nothing wrong with having competitive products around the world,” says Gerstell.
But Lemon8’s links to ByteDance and TikTok will also be on the radar of US regulators, especially as the app continues to gain popularity.
“If Lemon8 is removed from the US market, they still have [millions of] people all over the world can be users of this app,” Gerstell pointed out, noting that Lemon8 has enjoyed success in Japan.
“From the point of view of a business strategy, I don’t see much of a downside,” says Gerstell.
ByteDance did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
It might give them a backup in case something goes wrong on TikTok but I don’t see it as a solution for ByteDance in this respect.
Glenn Gerstell
Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Lemon8 could also serve as an alternative for content creators if TikTok is banned in the US, both Gorman and Gerstell said.
“The fact that we are promoting marketing specifically for Lemon8 could be an attempt to move creators to the platform if TikTok is facing a ban,” Gorman said. million TikTok users in the United States from app to app is no small feat.
Not a solution
Analysts say creating another app to replace TikTok is not a quick fix for ByteDance. Chinese apps will continue to be scrutinized by the US. when tensions with China do not ease.
“It could give them a backup in case something goes wrong on TikTok, but I don’t see it as a solution for ByteDance in this respect,” Gerstell said.
As Lemon8 continues to become more popular, it really shows that US regulators need to put in place a comprehensive framework to understand the risks of Chinese internet apps and address them before they can. they got out of control, Gorman said.
“This problem is going to grow. It’s like Russian nesting dolls, isn’t it? You open TikTok,” said Eric Noonan, CEO of cybersecurity compliance service provider CyberSheath. , then you get another app. You open that app, you get another app”.
“So we really need a framework to deal with this. If not, we’ll be playing Whack-A-Mole until the end of time.”
