ByteDance, the parent company of the global sensational short video app TikTok, is looking for ways to re-enter the Indian market, per a report by Economic Times.
In June 2020, 59 Chinese apps were banned by India, due to the government’s “raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding the privacy of 130 crore Indians”. India’s Ministry of Information Technology claims the aforementioned 59 apps, including TikTok, Kwai, WeChat, Weibo, UC Browser, Shein, and Clash of Kings, have been stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers outside India.
The TikTok app has been banned temporarily in India in 2019, as an Indian court found the app could “expose children to sexual predators, pornographic content and cyberbullying.” The app missed out on more than 15 million users in the two weeks it was banned, according to Sensor Tower. At the time, it was on a fast track to establishing itself in the Indian market, constantly ranking Top 10 on the Apple App Store chart and amassing more than 120 million users in India.
Tension between China and India has been escaping ever since. In February this year, the Indian government banned 54 more apps due to similar reasons.
ByteDance shut down its operation in India in 2021, and is now seeking a comeback. The company is hiring back old employees as well as recruiting new ones. In order to find a solution in compliance with local regulations, it is also in talks with The Hiranandani Group, which runs data center operations, according to Economic Times.
Talks with Hiranandani are still in the early stages, and no formal talks with Indian government officials have been conducted yet. But the clock’s “tik-ing”. In TikTok’s absence, global short video apps such as Youtube Shorts and Instagram Reels have entered and established themselves in India.
In addition, for Indian tech companies, TikTok’s exit was an opportunity. Naveen Tewari, founder, and CEO of InMobi Group which is parent to Roposo, an Indian short video app, called the ban a “digital aatmanirbhar moment that most Indians have been rooting for." (Aatmanirbhar translates to “self-reliant India”.)
Homegrown short video apps are becoming increasingly popular in India, with votes of confidence from global backers. With 180 million users, Mohalla Tech’s ShareChat isreportedly closing a $300 million deal with Google, Temasek, and others this month. In April this year, Josh, a short video app by VerSe Innovation raised $805 million in funding led by CPP Investments. Other investors of VerSe Innovation include investors Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
Currently, ShareChat is the most dominant player in India’s short video app market, after its merger with Times Internet-owned MX Takatak. In March, Moj, a short video app under ShareChat has closed a deal to buy out and merge Takatak for $600 million in a move to “strengthen and consolidate its position in the market, amid growing competition from local and global rivals”, per Money Control.
So far, TikTok has not confirmed its plans regarding re-entering. If TikTok plans to re-enter India, it will not be facing the same barren field awaiting to be plowed and cultivated. Instead, it will face a turbulent environment given strong competitors who have somewhat filled that blank space it had left, in addition to regulatory uncertainties.
Cover image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash