BeijingByteDance apps took 40.9% of time on China’s 50 top apps in July, Nomura found.
Commentator Qin Shuo warned Hongguo’s cliffhangers would eat time once spent on reading, reflection and family.
Qin coined “ByteDance Time” in an essay on Hongguo, ByteDance’s micro-drama app with 168 million daily users.
ByteDance executive Li Liang called the label “complete nonsense” and said the Nomura data was narrow.
A regulator would act on the public narrative, the analysis argues, which is why ByteDance contests it now.
How each outlet framed it
- Pekingnology
- frames ByteDance's Hongguo dominance as a threat, quoting Qin Shuo's 'ByteDance Time' essay against Nomura/QuestMobile share data (40.9% vs Tencent's 29.1%)
Sources: Pekingnology