Photo/Shetuwang

Jan. 16 (NBD) -- Chinese social networking app market dominator WeChat is facing challenges from new players.

Three tech companies set foot in the sector by releasing their social apps on Tuesday.

Jinri Toutiao, operator of social short video platform TikTok, launched beta version of Duoshan, a chat app that encourages users send more videos and emojis while chatting and allows them to share disappearing videos with their contacts.

Smartisan-backed Kuairu Technology began testing messaging app Liaotianbao. The app combines chatting, news-reading, e-commerce and money-making functions.

Another social networking app Mtoilet debuted on the same day, aiming to build an anonymous social network.

However, its download link for IOS-based smartphones was shut down a few hours later. Besides, Mtoilet users found that the product was unable to be started. The official site stated the team is expanding the server and the app will be recovered later.

Mtoilet is developed by Shenzhen Ringle Artificial Technology ("Ringle"), whose founder established video app Qvod Player.

As a response to new releases, WeChat has blocked all in-app download links and QR codes for the three products, though both Ringle founder Wang Xin and Jinri Toutiao CEO Chen Lin stressed their apps are not competing with WeChat given the differentiated market positions.

Since Tencent unveiled WeChat in 2011, the platform soon monopolized the social networking market.

As of last August, the daily login of WeChat exceeded 1 billion.

Compared with the U.S. market where several social apps coexist, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Snapchat, the Chinese market saw few new entrants.

In 2013, gaming company NetEase and e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group attempted to defeat Tencent through their social platforms but ended up with no progress.

The next challenger Smartisan's voice-based messaging app Bullet Message came late in 2018.

The app features automatic transcription from voice messages to text with iFlytek's voice recognition technology.

The foray of new players this month is believed to generate new competition in the market.

Eyeing the coveted benefits like what Tencent gains from the sector, many companies are seeking to grab a piece of cake, thus it is natural to see more new products emerge in the market, said Cen Saiyin, vice president of Cornerstone Capital.

Liu xingliang, director of the DCCI Internet research institute, believed there is little chance for new comers to shake the position of WeChat.

But iiMedia Research CEO Zhang Yi held an opposite view that the wide application of 5G technology and release of 5G smartphones in 2019 is expected to create new opportunities for social networking.

In the future, using short videos for social networking will be a new trend, which could give the birth to the new generation of social networking products, added Zhang.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn