ByteDance, the company behind TikTok (Douyin in China), is transforming from a content creation provider to a smartphone maker.
According to Financial Times tipsters, ByteDance is currently in the process of developing its own smartphone after having acquired patents and talents from Chinese phone maker Smartisan. Founder Zhang Yiming has “long dreamt” of a TikTok smartphone, according to an anonymous source.
The rumoured smartphone is presumably marketed toward the social media fanatics and millennials in China and would come installed with the TikTok (Douyin) application.
The rumour didn’t include any specifications or proposed launch day. ByteDance has declined to comment on this report. It’s unlikely that this phone would go on sale in markets outside of Mainland China.
Smartphones that embraced an Internet service have flopped historically. This occurs because the smartphone focuses on pushing and advertising services over fine-tuning the user experience. Amazon’s Fire Phone is a perfect example of a smartphone with enhanced Internet service over usability. HTC First and HTC ChaCha, both Facebook-tuned smartphones, were largely overlooked by consumers as they preferred to use the dedicated Facebook app.
However, BytesDance’s smartphone attempt might have a different result in China. Douyin has overtaken the country by storm with 300 million active monthly users in China as of 2018.
Source: Financial Times Via: Engadget
