Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, owner of the popular TikTok streaming app, is looking foray into the smartphone market. As we all know, affordable and mid-range smartphone segments already have tough competition and ByteDance's arrival can add some more fuel in the market.
The Financial Times reports that the Beijing based company wants to make a smartphone with the idea of preloading all of the company's apps on it, according to two people familiar with the project. The source told the publisher that Bytedance founder Zhang Yiming "has long dreamt of a phone with Bytedance apps pre-installed."
However, there are no details on segment position of the rumoured smartphone, but ByteDance could launch it in the affordable segment because TikTok is ByteDance's most famous app and its users are young people who may not have a very high budget for a smartphone. Other than TikTok, the company is also known for News Republic and TopBuzz apps. This will not be the first time when a software focusing company foray into hardware. Amazon had also launched its smartphones with its own bloatware.
According to The Verge, ByteDance recently had acquired Smartisan and hire some of its employees. This acquisition could help the company to develop a smartphone. There is another rumour that ByteDance is developing a music streaming service to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.
It will not be easy for ByteDace in the mid-range segment which already has brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Realme. Jia Mo, Shanghai-based analyst at Canalys said, "There's basically no space for them in the mass market." He further adds, "They lack experience and advantage in the supply chain, in channels. . . so their likelihood of being successful is very low."
Will the ByteDance's preloaded apps on smartphone convince enough for buyers to buy a smartphone? Albeit, all the apps work on practically every Android and iOS smartphone, so it's not so much of a USP.
