Ximalaya
Ad sales and monetisation · Hosting platforms · Listening apps
A Tencent-backed podcasting and audio book platform
Website: www.ximalaya.com
Latest news
- Jun 11: Bloomberg’s scoop back in April that Tencent Music was buying Ximalaya for $2.4bn was about right - Tencent’s note to the SEC says the deal has now been done - with $1.2bn cash, plus 5.2% of shares (currently worth $1.5bn). DigitalMusicNews notes that Sony Music owned a significant amount of Ximalaya shares.
- Apr 28: Chinese podcasting company Ximalaya is reportedly to be acquired by Tencent Music for $2.4bn, reports Bloomberg. (Spotify bought Anchor for just $140mn). Ximalaya, which claimed more than 303mn monthly active users in 2023, spent $100mn on a US expansion in 2019 (though it may not have done); the company tried to float on the NYSE, but didn’t, and was going to float in Hong Kong, but hasn’t.
- Dec 27, 2024: Podcasting in China is the subject of a report from mobile app analysis firm MoonFox; podcast app Ximalaya has 300mn registered users, it says (and has numbers for the other large platforms); only 171 branded podcasts appear to exist in the country (a Louis Vuitton show has 44,000 listeners).
- Jan 30, 2024: Yesterday, we mentioned that Apple Podcasts had mistakenly included Libsyn as a company supporting Podcasting 2.0’s transcripts feature. Libsyn had criticised the standard and clarified it didn’t support the feature. Today, we note they’ve disappeared from the list - along with Acast, Firstory, Pinecast, Podigee, Simplecast, Ximalaya and ZenCast. (We think Fireside and Pinecast support transcripts, incidentally).
- Jun 24, 2022: Chinese podcasting company Ximalaya has pushed back the launch of its planned IPO in Hong Kong. They were seeking $100 million, but Bloomberg reports market volatility is to blame.
Data credits: Podnews newsletter