TikTok company owner ByteDance has claimed that the company is anticipating a loss of over $6 billion after Indian government ban on 59 Chinese apps. The company had three of its apps in the list which includes TikTok.
A PTI report claimed that China’s Caixinglobal.com declared the loss estimate of $6 billion quoting sources close to the company’s senior management. The amount is likely more than the combined losses for all the other Chinese apps banned by India.
The Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps on Monday for engaging in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The govt ban came at a time when there’s considerable tension across borders of India and China after Indian Army’s stand-off along the Line of Actual control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.
India was the biggest market in terms of users for TikTok. While the company does not have the same app in its home country but a similar service called Douyin. The Chinese media report claimed that this was a huge blow for the company, especially due to the ban on TikTok.
The other two apps that were on the list and were owned by Bytedance included Vigo Video and Helo. WeChat, an instant messaging application owned by Tencent has also been banned. Alibaba’s UC Browser was another popular name on the list.
The 59 apps are no longer available on either Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Yesterday Google announced that it had temporarily blocked all the apps that were still present on the store. There is no certainty if these apps will be introduced back in the Indian market. Bytedance has complied with the demands of the Indian government. However, it is yet to be seen what will happen to 2000 employees hired by the company in India.
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