Could Tencent Topple Momo given that “Tinder of China”? | #facebookdating | #tinder | #pof

Tencent (OTC:TCEHY) rules China’s mobile messaging market with WeChat, which serves 1.15 billion month-to-month active users (MAUs). Its ecosystem of over a million “mini programs” allows users to shop, purchase meals, play games, hail trips, make re payments, and much more — all without ever making the software.

Meanwhile, Momo (NASDAQ:MOMO) could be the online that is top platform in China. Its namesake software started off as a social network application|networking that is social, but gradually evolved into a platform for internet dating and real time videos.

Momo’s smaller application, Tantan, is actually a clone that is chinese of Group‘s Tinder. Momo’s core software had 114.1 million MAUs last quarter, and 13.4 million of them purchased gifts that are virtual signed up for premium online dating services on Momo and Tantan.

Image supply: Getty Pictures.

Those two businesses generally aren’t considered rivals, but Tencent recently launched three torpedoes at Momo: an anonymous video dating app called Maohu (“Catcall”), a Tinder-like app called Qingliao (“Light Chat”), and a reboot of their Pengyou (“Friends”) app as a myspace and facebook by having a dating feature that is opt-in.

What’s Tencent as much as?

WeChat’s MAUs expanded 6% yearly final quarter, but it’s only a matter of time before this ubiquitous “super app” runs away from space to develop in China. Meanwhile, Gen rivals that are z-oriented ByteDance’s TikTok and Bilibili are attracting more youthful users, while WeChat seems shackled to its reputation being a application for older users.

A study that is recent research firm Jiguang unearthed that simply 15% of Chinese users created after 2000 posted day-to-day updates on WeChat, compared to 57% of users created within the 1960s. That’s similar to the generation gap between Twitter and Instagram in Western markets, where parents saturated the former and sent teens scurrying toward the latter. WeChat is also commonly considered a “work app,” since supervisors utilize it to keep monitoring of their employees.

In other words, Tencent requires brand new approaches to achieve more youthful users, and Momo’s streak of double-digit income development shows that online dating sites is nevertheless a fertile market.

Meet Maohu, Qingliao, and Pengyou

Maohu, which launched throughout the summer time, lets users talk anonymously with strangers while donning electronic masks. Male users can wear the mask for at the most five full minutes, while feminine users can indefinitely wear a mask. Once a person eliminates his / her mask, beauty filters are applied immediately into the real time video clip.

Qingliao, that has been introduced in belated November, resembles Momo’s Tantan and Match’s Tinder, but does not follow the swiping mechanic of the two apps. Rather, it just provides two alternatives from the right part of each profile — anyone to “like” it, and another to dismiss it.

Its main web web page shows a carousel of prospective matches, and users can scroll down seriously to view more information like a user’s occupation, academic back ground, hobbies, location, and social media marketing postings. The matches are refreshed every 18 hours. The application is being tested for an invite-only foundation.

Image supply: Getty Photos.

Pengyou, that has been relaunched in mid-December, is definitely an updated version of an adult social networking app that ended up being discontinued in 2017. The new application resembles Instagram featuring its dominant feed of solitary pictures, however it splits its feed into three groups — friends, peers, and individuals whom reside in the same town.

Users have to validate their identities with individual qualifications, plus dabble they can opt-in for dating matches. This approach that is subtle comparable to Facebook’s opt-in strategy with Twitter Dating. Like Qingliao, Pengyou remains being tested on a basis that is invite-only.

Should Momo be concerned?

Tencent obviously wants to leverage the effectiveness of its WeChat and QQ ecosystems to achieve fresh footholds into the online market that is dating. This may be bad news for Momo, which struggled with decelerating development in MAUs and revenue throughout the year that is past