With TikTok facing a looming shutdown on January 19th over its U.S. ownership (unless the Supreme Court intervenes), another Chinese app appears to be gaining traction. US users are flocking to the Chinese short video app Xiaohongshu (known in English as RedNote). The app rocketed to the number one free app spot on the US App Store today. It is also the top social networking app among all free iPhone apps.
Some TikTok creators are promoting Xiaohongshu on their accounts and encouraging followers to migrate to the platform. Influencers may not have a crystal ball to predict whether TikTok will survive a ban, but Xiaohongshu offers them a way to hedge their social bets.
Why Xiao Hongsho?
Xiaohongshu originally launched in 2013 and is suitable in many ways for creators looking for an alternative to TikTok. It has a layout similar to Pinterest. This is usually considered China's answer to Instagram. And importantly, it has a lot of social shopping features.
And it's also on a strong viral trajectory. After years of steady growth, Xiaohongshu experienced a boom among young Chinese consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It currently boasts 300 million monthly active users. Of these, 79% are women. Currently the top app in the US
Before its recent rise to prominence, the app had been downloaded about 3.2 million times in the U.S., according to data collected by Appfigures since January 2017.
Unsurprisingly, the startup has also attracted the attention of investors. To date, the company has raised about $917 million in venture funding, with backers including Tencent, Alibaba, ZhenFund, DST, HongShan (formerly Sequoia China), and about 13 other companies. The valuation after the secondary sale of shares in 2024 is reportedly $17 billion.
According to a Bloomberg report, the app is expected to grow in profits to more than $1 billion in 2024 ahead of a possible IPO (according to this FT report, quarterly sales last year were billion dollars). This growth not only shows the potential of apps, but also hints at the promising opportunities that can present to app creators.
It is unclear whether Xiaohongshu will be able to maintain the interest it is currently receiving. And if that were to happen, it would be a big deal in terms of oversight from U.S. authorities, given that Xiaohongshu is not only from China, but also doesn't seem to be pretending to operate in the United States at all. I don't know what that means yet.
On the other hand, it is noteworthy that TikTok users do not recommend the app of TikTok, its biggest domestic rival. TikTok is experiencing its own struggles. Meta recently announced that its stable of social apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, will be relaxing their content moderation policies and discontinuing third-party fact-checking in the process. This has raised concerns about the potential for hateful content and misinformation to spread. That platform.
This story was updated after publication to include Appfigures data.