TikTok drives ByteDance’s 29% revenue growth while China business slows
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TikTok’s sizzling pace of growth has come into focus since Washington mandated that the social video platform find a buyer or exit its biggest market.
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BEIJING – ByteDance’s revenue jumped 29 per cent to US$155 billion (S$208 billion) in 2024, after online video phenomenon TikTok drove a worldwide expansion that helped offset an economic downturn back home in China.
Its international sales grew by a much quicker 63 per cent to US$39 billion, contributing to roughly a quarter of the top line, according to people briefed on the numbers.
ByteDance’s net profit for the year edged up to around US$33 billion, they said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private information.
TikTok’s sizzling pace of growth has come into focus since Washington mandated that the social video platform find a buyer or exit its biggest market.
Its fate remains uncertain after the Trump administration granted TikTok a second 75-day extension
While the international division soared, growth overall for the start-up slowed sharply from 2023, when ByteDance grew sales to nearly US$120 billion from US$80 billion.
At home, its flagship video platform Douyin is grappling with belt-tightening across the world’s second-largest economy. TikTok, which replicates its local sibling’s advertising and e-commerce models globally, has taken up more of the burden for top-line growth in the meantime.
One of ByteDance’s biggest challenges in 2025 remains securing a US deal that appeases both Washington and Beijing.
Amazon.com became the latest big name to jump into the fray, submitting a bid to the White House to buy out a business once valued at US$60 billion. Lesser-known AppLovin is also reportedly seeking backing for its own takeover bid.
The pair lengthened an already eclectic list of potential owners of the ByteDance app at the nexus of US-China tensions.
An escalating trade war between the US and China
Washington sees TikTok as a bargaining chip to negotiate favourable trade terms with Beijing. In the meantime, tariffs on Chinese goods could hammer TikTok’s burgeoning e-commerce business in the US, which counts on cross-border merchants.
In the longer term, ByteDance joins much of the world’s technology giants in the hope of turning generative artificial intelligence (AI) into a windfall. Its chatbot Doubao is among the most popular in China, and the company is also experimenting with AI products for areas from video generation to coding.
Some of ByteDance’s biggest investors value the firm at over US$400 billion on their books, while the firm plans to buy back employee shares at a US$312 billion valuation.
Both counts are a significant mark-up from a year ago, helped by a reassessment of the Chinese tech sector post-DeepSeek. BLOOMBERG
