iQIYI

iQIYI (Chinese: 爱奇艺; pinyin: Ài qí yì), formerly Qiyi (奇艺),[1] is a Chinese online video platform based in Beijing launched on April 22, 2010.

iQIYI, Inc.
Screenshot
Screenshot of iQiyi home page
Type of site
Video on demand
Traded asNASDAQ: IQ (ADS)
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Founder(s)Gong Yu
Key peopleRobin Li
(Chairman)
Gong Yu
(CEO)
ParentBaidu
URLwww.iqiyi.com
www.iq.com
Users100.5 million (June 30, 2019)

iQIYI is currently one of the largest online video sites in the world, with nearly 6 billion hours spent on its service each month and over 500 million monthly active users.[2][3][4][5] On March 29, 2018, the company issued its IPO (initial public offering) in the U.S. and raised $2.25 billion.[6] iQiyi is not available in Taiwan since October 15, 2020 because of a Taiwan government ban on partnerships with mainland Chinese video streaming companies.[7]

History

iQiyi was founded on April 22, 2010 by Baidu, the company behind China's largest online search engine, with support from Providence Equity Partners.[8] It changed its name to iQiyi in November 2011.[1] On November 2, 2012, Baidu bought Providence's stake and took 100% ownership of the site.[9] On May 7, 2013, Baidu purchased the online video business of PPStream Inc. for $370 million, which became a subsidiary of iQiyi. On July 17, 2014, the site launched its film production division, iQiyi Motion Pictures, to expand existing cooperative projects with overseas peers, including purchasing releases and co-producing movies. On September 4, iQiyi cooperated with Venice Film Festival, streaming of the festival's movies online. In August 2014, iQiyi generated over 6.95 billion hours of viewing on its website.[10] In October, iQiyi participated in the Busan Film Festival, signing exclusive rights to nearly 100 South Korean titles.[11] On November 19, 2014, Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital invested $300 Million in iQiyi for about 10 percent to 15 percent of the site, while Baidu invested an additional $100 million and held about 80 percent.[12]

On December 8, 2014, iQiyi's chief content officer Ma Dong said the portal planned to more than double original production in 2015, with at least 30 titles and 500 episodes on the slate compared to 13 in 2014.[13] In 2015, iQiyi purchased the streaming rights to eight top entertainment shows in mainland China, and several entertainment shows in Taiwan and South Korea, including Running Man.[14] In March 2016, it announced it would launch in Taiwan.[15] In June 2016 it reported it had 20 million subscribers.[16]

On April 25, 2017, Netflix (which does not operate directly in China) announced that it had reached a licensing deal with iQiyi, under which some Netflix original productions would be available on iQiyi day-and-date with their premieres worldwide.[17]

In November 2018, iQiyi announced it was raising new cash. The video business said it will issue $500 million in convertible senior notes. Proceeds from the offering will go towards content and technology investments as well as capped call transactions to reduce potential dilution to shareholders upon conversion of the notes.[18]

In August 2019, iQiyi soft launched the multilingual, globally-available iQIYI app, which provides local languages such as English, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Vietnamese, and Indonesian. The company has recently been expanding its international footprint, and launched iq.com for global users.[19]

In December 2020, iQiyi opened a new office in Singapore at Robinson Road to serve as the regional headquarters for Southeast Asia.[20] The company also announced that it will hire 200 new employees over the course of the next 5 years, and will commit to creating more localized content.[21][22]

Reception

According to iResearch, a widely quoted third-party industry research firm, as of October 2014 iQiyi and PPS had a total of 202.18 million mobile viewers who watched content for 600.62 million hours on these platforms, with mobile videos reaching had a total of 308.17 million mobile viewers who watched content for a total of 1176.44 million hours on these platforms. Total video views reached 500 million.[23] Each viewer watched content for an average of 229.05 minutes in October[23] In mid-2015 the site had 5 million subscribers, in late 2015/early 2016 it had over 10 million and by June 2016, it had 20 million.[24]

iQiyi bought exclusive Chinese rights to the hit South Korean show My Love from the Star, which to date has been viewed 2.7 billion times.

In 2014, iQiyi co-produced and distributed the drama Mysterious Summer with major Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV. It was the first drama co-production between China and Japan and has been viewed more than 60 million times as of October 2014.[25][26]

Controversies

In April 2020, activist investors, including Muddy Waters Research, accused iQiyi of overstating its revenue and subscribers.[27] Short-seller Wolfpack Research also accused the company of inflating revenue numbers.[28] In August 2020, it was announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subsequently launched an investigation into iQiyi.[29]

In June 2020, the Beijing Internet Court sided with a customer who sued the company for breaching the terms and conditions of the 'VIP' subscription. iQiyi had charged additional fees for pre-screens of dramas, although paying customers were promised access at no extra charge.[30]

See also

References
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  2. Russell, Jon. "Baidu's iQiyi video service raises $1.53 billion". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  3. Ng, Yi Shu. "Netflix takes its first steps into China, the world's hungriest streaming market". Mashable. Archived from the original on 2019-12-29. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  4. Jeff Sneider (July 8, 2015). "Paramount Signs Licensing Deal With China's Largest Online Video Platform iQIYI". The Wrap. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015. Paramount Pictures has signed a licensing agreement with iQIYI, the largest online video platform in China, that will give the company rights to offer 800 films from the studio’s library to subscribers of its SVOD service, Paramount announced Wednesday.
  5. Kevin Cassidy. "Lionsgate Pacts With Chinese Online Giant IQIYI". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2016-03-29. Lionsgate has signed a long-term output deal for a number of high-profile Lionsgate and third-party feature films with China's largest comprehensive online video platform iQIYI.
  6. "Baidu's iQiyi Drops in Debut After IPO Raising $2.3 Billion". Bloomberg.com. 2018-03-29. Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  7. Xue, Yujie (2020-09-22). "iQiyi's Taiwan agent to cease serving local users from October 15 after ban on Chinese streaming platforms". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  8. "Baidu | Press Releases". ir.baidu.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  9. "iQIYI and Venice Film Festival Begin a Brand New Cooperation from 2014". www.prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  10. "8月PC视频：爱奇艺PPS八连冠，每人日均观看超50分钟_网易数码". digi.163.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  11. "Busan: China's iQiyi Signs Exclusive Rights to 90 South Korean Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  12. "Xiaomi Stake Said to Value IQiyi at Up to $3 Billion". Bloomberg. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  13. Stein, Janine (December 9, 2014). "ATF: China's iQIYI to Double Production Slate in 2015". Variety. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  14. "年度重磅综艺《造梦者》 1月9日独家登陆爱奇艺-新华网". news.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
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  16. Xiang, Tracey (December 12, 2016). "China's Online Video Market in the Middle of Transition to Paid Subscribers, Self-Produced Content". TechNode. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  17. "Netflix Signs Licensing Deal With China's iQiyi". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  18. "China's iQiyi to offer $500M convertible note as content costs balloon". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  19. Zacks, Contributor Zacks Equity Research. "iQIYI's Overseas Expansion to Stir Up Streaming Competition". www.nasdaq.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  20. "iQiyi to hire over 200 staff in its Singapore international HQ in next few years". The Business Times. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  21. "Netflix of China, iQIYI, aims for aggressive Southeast Asia expansion; hiring up to 200 new staff in Singapore". Startup News, Networking, and Resources | BEAMSTART. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  22. hermes (2020-12-16). "iQiyi commits to making more Singapore content". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  23. "艾瑞网-洞察互联网的力量". www.iresearch.cn. Archived from the original on 2015-12-28. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  24. Frater, Patrick (June 14, 2016). "China Video Platform iQIYI Reaches 20 Million Subscribers". Variety. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  25. "Fuji TV to commence internet-based distribution for "Mysterious Summer" | OnScreenAsia.com". www.onscreenasia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  26. "International Business Themes Dominate Tokyo Market Seminars". www.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  27. Jaeger, Jaclyn (April 9, 2020). "Luckin Coffee, iQIYI fraud allegations point to wider China problem". Compliance Week. Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  28. Kharpal, Arjun (2020-04-08). "Chinese video streaming giant iQiyi accused of fraud, company says report contains 'misleading conclusions'". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  29. Ping, Chong Koh (2020-08-14). "A Chinese Netflix Faces SEC Probe After Short-Seller Report". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  30. Tone, Sixth (3 June 2020). "Court Rules Against iQiyi for Charging Premium Subscribers Extra". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2020-11-25.

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