ByteDance is pushing a new application in the U.S. as TikTok faces a ban

Chinese tech giant ByteDance is pushing another social media app in the U.S. — even as its flagship shorter video clip app TikTok faces a possible ban stateside.

Whilst it could be aspect of a business enterprise technique for ByteDance, a new products to switch TikTok isn’t the ideal remedy either, analysts informed CNBC.

“It’s undoubtedly interesting timing. It appears like ByteDance is pushing Lemon8 as a potential alternate to TikTok,” stated Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging tech at the German Marshall Fund.

In March, ByteDance invited creators on to its “new Lemon8 platform” right before it officially rolls out in the U.S., while citing the good results of its “sister firm TikTok,” according to media reviews.

Lemon8, a blend of Instagram and Pinterest, was first introduced in Japan in early 2020. The way of life app which focuses on health and fitness, wellness and magnificence has immediately climbed the charts in the U.S.

In accordance to analytics companies facts.ai, Lemon8 jumped 693 positions to turn into the next most downloaded lifestyle app in the U.S. in the very last 30 times, bumping real estate marketplace Zillow to third put when trailing powering Pinterest.

Lemon8 has amassed 17 million downloads globally since its launch, according to Apptopia.

“Some of the algorithms that are utilized in Lemon8 are identical to or precisely the exact as the advice algorithms in TikTok, which of training course, would make both of these apps greatly popular simply because they feed you what you want to see and so on,” claimed Glenn Gerstell, senior advisor at Middle for Strategic and Intercontinental Studies.

Lemon8’s increase in attractiveness will come as U.S. lawmakers think about whether the Chinese-owned parent enterprise of TikTok, ByteDance, needs to divest its stake in the well-known limited video clip application which has appear less than enormous scrutiny.

In March, U.S. lawmakers questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Congress to get responses on TikTok’s ability to operate independently of Chinese influences on its mother or father. The congressional questioning did not surface to allay lawmakers’ worries.

Analysts like Gorman say that promoting Lemon8 aggressively could be observed as a “competitive transfer” by the company as it attempts to “grow into diverse client marketplaces and segments with more graphic-based mostly and longer-form composed content material as opposed to only quick-variety movies.”

“It definitely is a enterprise approach. [There’s] practically nothing incorrect with possessing competing items close to the world,” explained Gerstell.

But Lemon8’s back links to ByteDance and TikTok will occur underneath the radar of U.S. regulators far too, particularly as the application continues to increase in popularity.

“If Lemon8 receives shut out of the U.S. industry, they have nonetheless acquired [millions of] persons all over the earth who could be buyers of this application,” pointed out Gerstell, who mentioned Lemon8 has by now observed good results in Japan.

“From a enterprise strategy’s place of look at, I do not see a ton of downsides,” stated Gerstell.

ByteDance didn’t respond to CNBC’s ask for for remark.

Lemon8 could also serve as an alternate for content material creators if TikTok ever receives banned in the U.S., mentioned the two Gorman and Gerstell.

“The fact that we’re acquiring a committed advertising press on to Lemon8 might be an effort to shift creators onto a platform if TikTok is struggling with a ban,” reported Gorman, who also acknowledged it really is “easier mentioned than carried out” — and that shifting 150 million TikTok buyers in the U.S. from one application to one more is no smaller feat.

Creating an additional app to substitute TikTok is not a quick option for ByteDance, the analysts said. Chinese applications will carry on to be scrutinized by the U.S. as tensions with China are not dying down.

“It could give them a fallback in case a little something receives hurt on TikTok but I don’t see it as creating a answer for ByteDance in this regard,” mentioned Gerstell.

As Lemon8 proceeds to get more well-known, it truly speaks to the need for U.S. regulators to come up with a in depth framework to fully grasp the threats of Chinese net apps and tackle them in advance of they spiral out of management, stated Gorman.

“This issue will just proliferate. It really is a little bit like Russian nesting dolls, correct? You open TikTok, then you get an additional app. You open up that application, you get a different app,” mentioned Eric Noonan, CEO of cybersecurity compliance provider company CyberSheath.

“So we definitely want a framework to offer with this. Usually, we will be participating in Whack-A-Mole until the conclude of time.”