TMTPOST -- ByteDance Ltd. maintains robust growth of overseas business even though its growth engine TikTok could be banned in the United States, according to a report from American tech news media outlet The Information.
Credit：ByteDance
ByteDance’s international revenue rose more than 60% to about $17 billion in the first half of 2024, and its overall revenue that period grew more than 35% to about $73 billion, The Information cited people with knowledge of the financial results.
The reported data represented a modest slowdown compared with more than 40% of revenue growth in the first half of 2023. The slowdown reflected impact of China’s economic weakness, which cut into demand for advertising, according to the report.
It is reported that data showcased TikTok carries more weight than before as the international revenue accounted for about 23% of revenue from January to June, up from about 19% for the same six-month period of 2023.
The report added the results suggested ByteDance is on the brink of overtaking Facebook parent Mate Platforms in revenue. meta recorded revenue of $75.5 billion with a 25% year-over-year increase. Bloomberg sources said in April ByteDance for the first time topped archrival Tencent Holdings Ltd. both in revenue and profit. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped around 60% to more than $40 billion in 2023, and sales grew nearly $120 billion from $80 billion in 2022, according to the report.
The stellar growth for the first six months this year highlighted ByteDance’s resilience in the face of increasing operation challenge of TikTok, especially in the U.S.
The U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act ( the “Act”) that could ban TikTok in the country in April. The Act is part of a comprehensive foreign aid package providing assistance to Israel, Ukraine and other U.S allies. It gives TikTok owner ByteDance 270 days to divest its U.S. assets including TikTok, otherwise the Chinese tech giant would face a ban on its app being available in U.S. app stores or on U.S. web hosting services. It also grants the White House the authority to prolong this deadline by another 90 days if the president deems that progress has been made towards a sale.
TikTok boasts over 170 million users in the United States and holds significant economic and cultural influence. Advocates for the measure have voiced their apprehensions regarding the company's ownership structure, suggesting it could potentially grant the Chinese government access to American users' data—a claim flatly refuted by TikTok. While supporters of the potential ban say it is necessary in order to mitigate national security risks the app poses due to China-based ByteDance. TikTok previously insisted it has never shared U.S. data and never would. It has said ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.
TikTok filed a federal lawsuit in May to seek a court order to prevent the U.S. government from enforcing the Act, claiming the Act is unconstitutional for violation of the First Amendment, burdening its protected speech rights.
The “qualified divestiture” demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally, TikTok said in a court filling. It said it has repeatedly explained to the U.S. government and sponsors of the Act were aware of the divestment is not possible, so the Act will effectively “force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
Reuters reported late May TikTok has been working on creating a clone of its recommendation algorithm for its U.S. users since ByteDance directed splitting the source code late last year. Once the project about the U.S.-exclusive algorithm, which requires splitting the underlying code that binds TikTok’s U.S. operations to ByteDance, completed, it could lay a foundation for ByteDance to divest TikTok forced by the Act, according to the report.
TikTok later dismissed the Reuters report, saying it is “misleading and factually inaccurate.” A Reuters spokesperson said the news agency stands by its reporting following TikTok’s denial. And the related report noted TikTok didn’t specify what was inaccurate.
