BUSINESS

Short Drama App Hongguo’s Users Climb to New High

Published: Nov. 5, 2026 1:17 p.m. GMT+8

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ByteDance Ltd.’s short drama app Hongguo has seen the number of its users surge to 430 million, overtaking AI assistant Doubao to become the company’s second-largest app after Douyin, according to an industry report.

The milestone highlights a profound shift in China’s mobile entertainment landscape, where an aging internet user base and a transition toward AI-generated, bite-sized content are rapidly transforming traditional long-form video platforms.

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Hongguo, ByteDance’s short-drama app, reached 430 million monthly users, becoming its second-largest app after Douyin, surpassing AI assistant Doubao.
User growth (from 122M in Sept 2024 to 400M+ by Sept 2026) is driven by aging demographics (46+ users now >40% of internet users) and a shift from long-form video to short dramas.
Its free, ad-supported model and ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 AI video model enabled low-cost content creation, boosting Hongguo’s dominance over traditional long-video platforms.

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Who’s Who

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What Happened When

2026：: ByteDance released the Seedance 2.0 video generation model, driving a productivity revolution in the short drama industry.

June 2026：: Hongguo’s monthly active users reached 368 million, surpassing Tencent Video (319 million), iQiyi (291 million), and Mango TV (240 million).