TikTok’s Parent Company ByteDance Will Enter Consumer Gadgets Segment

The parent company of TikTok ByteDance has made the first efforts to approach the consumer hardware segment through the development of educational gadgets.

According to an official statement from the Chinese Internet technology company, it is aiming to introduce “educational hardware” in the upcoming time. ByteDance decides to implement this plan after acquiring patents, as well as hired employees of Smartisan, a technology company headquartered in Chengdu and Beijing, in January this year. Accordingly, its move was to enter the education market.

With the estimated price of 75 billion dollars, ByteDance has taken big steps in the online media market via its two major products: short-video making app TikTok, and a news platform called Toutiao or Jinri Toutiao. With the hardware development, it will have more chances to explore online education, as well as meet demands concerning child-tutoring of rich families.

In 2018, the company introduced an app called Gogokid that provides American teachers and one-on-one English lessons for users. Also, in this market, ByteDance has a heavy rival: VIPKid under the collaboration between Sequoia Capital China and Tencent Holdings Ltd. The online education startup was estimated at more than $3 billion in April 2018.

According to a previous report from the Financial Times, ByteDance had a plan to release a smartphone running its apps. However, on May 30, the company said it would develop with the brand of Smartisan.

The spokeswoman of ByteDance Kaylene said,

Until April 2019, the short-video making app TikTok has had over 1 billion downloads, taking its parent company to new heights.