In November 2024, Beijing-based ByteDance valued itself at approximately *** billion U.S. dollars. The company had achieved the same valuation in September 2022, but market conditions lowered ByteDance self-reported value to *** billion U.S. dollars in October 2023.

ByteDance’s triumphant TikTok/ Douyin is one of the most successful Chinese brands that have made its name beyond borders. The short video brand enjoyed immense popularity around the world, surpassing Instagram and WhatsApp to be the most downloaded mobile app. In 2025, the brand value of TikTok/Douyin amounted to *** billion U.S. dollars. It was the second most valuable unicorn worldwide as of 2024 with a market cap of *** billion U.S. dollars. TikTok versus Douyin: the major differences After Douyin’s success in China, ByteDance launched TikTok in 2017— a separate, international version of Douyin. The video-sharing platforms, though quite similar in interface and functions, are two independent entities. Douyin and TikTok differ in accessibility (mainland China versus rest of the world), content results (China-based content versus international content), positioning (skills and lifestyle-tips-based versus more art-based), and functions (Douyin has more advanced live streaming and in-app purchase features). Who is using TikTok and Douyin? The duo possessed a large user base. In 2025, TikTok was estimated to have over *** million users while that of Douyin would exceed *** million in China. American and Southeast Asian countries were TikTok’s major markets. On average, the international version had a relatively older user composition than its Chinese sister app – a ***** of users aged below 34 years registered on TikTok versus **** of Douyin users were under 31 years. In some countries like the United States, TikTok has achieved a high penetration rate among young adults.

China’s internet economy has evolved rapidly over time, enough to even rival its Silicon Valley counterpart. In 2024, Tencent Holdings retained its title of the most valuable internet company in China, with a market value of around **** trillion yuan. ByteDance surpassed Alibaba Group to claim the second place with **** trillion yuan. Baidu dropped out of the top ten chart. Who are the new BAT trinity? The new BATs – ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent — are China's three technology titans. ByteDance, the creator of TikTok and its Chinese sister app Douyin, accounted for ** percent of China’s mobile app usage time, overtaking the long-time champion Tencent in 2022. Meanwhile, the Alibaba Group offers various e-commerce services, with the domestic retail segment being its largest revenue generator. Similarly, Tencent Holdings, of the WeChat and QQ apps fame, earned most of its revenue through its value-added services. China’s budding tech players While being the underdogs of the Chinese IT scene, domestic companies such as Pinduoduo and Meituan have received global recognition. With a brand value of ** billion yuan, Pinduoduo has climbed to be one of the strongest retail brands in the world, ranking right after IKEA and Aldi. Meituan, which is famous for its food delivery app, alone earned *** billion yuan worth of revenue in 2023. On the other hand, Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, has lost its former BAT trinity title.

In 2024, the leading media company worldwide based on revenue was Alphabet Inc., with revenue of *** billion euros. In second place was Meta Platforms Inc, followed by Bytedance, Comcast Corporation, and Amazon. Media market - additional information The global entertainment and media market has a high value, considering it is made up of television, radio, internet, newspaper and in general technology-based companies. In 2024, this industry had an accumulated value of approximately *** trillion U.S. dollars. Projections for this market are optimistic as this industry is expected to increase its value over the next years, potentially reaching a revenue of *** trillion U.S. dollars by 2027. The first-ranking Alphabet had a revenue of over *** billion euros in 2024. The U.S. is the most important regional market for Alphabet, generating over ** percent of its revenue. Alphabet was followed by a fellow tech company, Meta, and by ByteDance, who owns TikTok. The majority of the leading media companies in the world are U.S.-based companies. Indeed, media has a major role in the daily life of Americans. On average, a consumer in the U.S. spent more than ** hours per day consuming major media.