Photo Credit: ByteDance
ByteDance is shutting down its video-sharing app Vigo in India, urging users to switch to TikTok instead.
The Chinese company is narrowing its product line across the globe, focusing on TikTok’s growth. Indian users have until October 31st to migrate to TikTok before Vigo shuts down completely. Vigo is already discontinued in Brazil and the Middle East.
The Vigo app has garnered millions of downloads and is estimated to have 5.5 million monthly active users in India. India is, by far, the video-sharing app’s biggest market. But a ByteDance spokesperson says the app will eventually be pulled from all countries where it is available.
ByteDance is offering an export tool to Vigo users, allowing them to migrate their content to TikTok.
Vigo users can also choose to download their personal data or delete their accounts permanently. When asked why the company is shutting down the app, a spokesperson says ByteDance is “focusing energy and resources on other businesses.”
Vigo is a rebranded app, much like TikTok. It used to be called Flipagram and was a US-based app before ByteDance acquired it in 2017. ByteDance acquired US-based Musical.ly and transformed it into TikTok a short time later. The China-only version of the app, Huoshan, will continue operations; currently, Huoshan is one of the most popular apps in China.
The stark difference in monthly active users between Vigo and TikTok in India shows why this is a smart move.
With fewer than 5 million monthly active users in India, TikTok dwarfs Vigo with 200 million users. ByteDance is also shuttering its news aggregator app TopBuzz and will remove it from the Google Play Store and the App Store. Job recruitment posts in India for ByteDance reveal the company plans to expand its app monetization strategy in India aggressively.
TikTok faced massive scrutiny in India after failing to remove a faked acid attack video. Activists say TikTok regularly fails to remove videos that promote violence, child abuse, and the objectification of women in India.