Chinese internet giant ByteDance has announced plans to discontinue its short video entertainment app Vigo India, and is directing its users to transfer all their content to its hugely popular video app TikTok, Entrackr reported.
In an app notification to its users ByteDance said, “We want to thank you for the time you’ve spent with Vigo. It’s you who made us who we are today. We regret to inform you that we’ll discontinue our service after 31st October 2020.”
The move comes as Vigo Video and Vigo Lite have reportedly struggled to attract a significant number of users in the country. Vigo Video and Vigo Lite are video sharing apps similar to TikTok. While TikTok has over 200 million users in India, Vigo Video had about 4 million monthly active users last month while Vigo Lite only had 1.5 million users, said a TechCrunch report.
In its message to users on Vigo apps, ByteDance said it will help them migrate their videos to TikTok. On TikTok, “you will be able to show your talent to a larger group of friends. We are eager to see you [there]!”.
ByteDance entered India in September 2017 through its live-streaming app Vigo Video. A year later, it took the Indian social media market by storm with the launch of TikTok. Apart from Vigo and TikTok, ByteDance’s also owns Indian-language news app Helo, and music streaming service Resso.
A year ago, Mint reported that ByteDance has set up a team to scout for companies in content, social commerce and education technology in a bid to target new audiences. The company is planning to expand its userbase in the Indian market.
Speaking to PTI in April last year, ByteDance Director (International Public Policy) Helena Lersch said that the company plans to invest $1 billion in the country over the next three years.
