TURBULENT TIMES FOR TIKTOK’S PLATFORM STRATEGY
CASE STUDY SOLUTION
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SYNOPSIS
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At the beginning of 2021, TikTok was facing multiple market threats and had to decide what strategies to
implement to manage them. Currently, TikTok is the world’s largest short-video platform, with users in
155 countries. But along with great success in entering numerous geographic markets, TikTok has faced
various geopolitical pressures, mainly concerning the company’s origins in China.
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Specifically, the company is banned in India, its biggest market, though it successfully overcame the threat
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of a ban in the United States while Donald Trump was still president. However, TikTok now faces renewed
threats by the US Republican Party, which in May 2021, has just decided to ban TikTok from all
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So
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
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1. How successful is TikTok in the global social media market?
2. Describe and evaluate the available opportunities in the global short-video market. How did TikTok
successfully compete against, and gain market share over Facebook and other global social media giants?
Sa
3. What are some of the challenges TikTok is facing and what options should TikTok consider?
4. How should TikTok move forward from this point?
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tio
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So
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
, 1. How successful is TikTok in the global social media market?
TikTok Internal Size Up
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TikTok is the world’s largest short-video platform application. Globally, it has been downloaded more than
two billion times from Apple Inc.’s App Store and from the Android operating system’s Google Play store.
pl
Although TikTok was launched only in 2017, it is already the seventh-most downloaded app in the world.
TikTok is available in 155 countries and in 75 languages, with aggressive expansions over the past few
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years. TikTok’s growth and development occurred through a series of acquisitions, after its initial launch
as the Douyin app, which is still the Chinese version of TikTok. In its international version, TikTok was
not available until the acquisition of, and merger with the Musical.ly app, which allowed it to gain an
Sa
extensive international user base and massive amounts of data. Although these two applications still have
similar interfaces and functionalities, they are separate entities with data stored in different places.
TikTok was developed and is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational Internet technology company
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that boasts the world’s leading innovative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. ByteDance’s portfolio
of products includes apps similar to TikTok that focus on delivering short videos to consumers. The
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company, which is known for its machine learning and AI capabilities, can provide world-leading
technology support to TikTok. Although TikTok is one of ByteDance’s most popular products, it only
accounted for approximately 17 per cent of the company’s total revenue in 2019. It is important to note that
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ByteDance is a giant company in China, with extensive resources and synergies within its product portfolio.
In fact, TikTok, Douyin, and a third app called Toutiao share research and development on critical
So
technology and algorithms.
Competitive Advantages
As the world’s largest short-video platform, TikTok has successfully competed directly against social media
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
CASE STUDY SOLUTION
e
pl
m
SYNOPSIS
Sa
At the beginning of 2021, TikTok was facing multiple market threats and had to decide what strategies to
implement to manage them. Currently, TikTok is the world’s largest short-video platform, with users in
155 countries. But along with great success in entering numerous geographic markets, TikTok has faced
various geopolitical pressures, mainly concerning the company’s origins in China.
n
Specifically, the company is banned in India, its biggest market, though it successfully overcame the threat
tio
of a ban in the United States while Donald Trump was still president. However, TikTok now faces renewed
threats by the US Republican Party, which in May 2021, has just decided to ban TikTok from all
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
, e
pl
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
m
1. How successful is TikTok in the global social media market?
2. Describe and evaluate the available opportunities in the global short-video market. How did TikTok
successfully compete against, and gain market share over Facebook and other global social media giants?
Sa
3. What are some of the challenges TikTok is facing and what options should TikTok consider?
4. How should TikTok move forward from this point?
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
, 1. How successful is TikTok in the global social media market?
TikTok Internal Size Up
e
TikTok is the world’s largest short-video platform application. Globally, it has been downloaded more than
two billion times from Apple Inc.’s App Store and from the Android operating system’s Google Play store.
pl
Although TikTok was launched only in 2017, it is already the seventh-most downloaded app in the world.
TikTok is available in 155 countries and in 75 languages, with aggressive expansions over the past few
m
years. TikTok’s growth and development occurred through a series of acquisitions, after its initial launch
as the Douyin app, which is still the Chinese version of TikTok. In its international version, TikTok was
not available until the acquisition of, and merger with the Musical.ly app, which allowed it to gain an
Sa
extensive international user base and massive amounts of data. Although these two applications still have
similar interfaces and functionalities, they are separate entities with data stored in different places.
TikTok was developed and is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational Internet technology company
n
that boasts the world’s leading innovative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. ByteDance’s portfolio
of products includes apps similar to TikTok that focus on delivering short videos to consumers. The
tio
company, which is known for its machine learning and AI capabilities, can provide world-leading
technology support to TikTok. Although TikTok is one of ByteDance’s most popular products, it only
accounted for approximately 17 per cent of the company’s total revenue in 2019. It is important to note that
lu
ByteDance is a giant company in China, with extensive resources and synergies within its product portfolio.
In fact, TikTok, Douyin, and a third app called Toutiao share research and development on critical
So
technology and algorithms.
Competitive Advantages
As the world’s largest short-video platform, TikTok has successfully competed directly against social media
The Case Solution Starts From page 4
