Himalaya has tried to go public four times in three years. Can the “ear economy” tell a new story?
2024-08-07
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Cover News reporter Meng Mei Yili
The reason behind Himalaya's intensive impact on the capital market, with four IPOs in three years, is the operational problems and financial pressure that are difficult to solve in the audio industry. Now that it has entered its "middle age", can Himalaya still tell a new story about the "ear economy"?
According to relevant data platforms, Himalaya has an average of 300 million users listening to Himalaya's audio content online every month; in 2023, it accounted for more than 60% of the total listening time of all online audio platforms in China. The company achieved its first full profitability in decades since its establishment, which will undoubtedly greatly increase its probability of a successful listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
However, according to the core paying user data, the payment rate of Himalaya's average monthly active paying users on mobile terminals has dropped from 12.9% in 2022 to 11.9% in 2023; the payment rate of the average monthly active paying members on mobile terminals has dropped from 12.6% in 2022 to 11.6% in 2023. Both data show varying degrees of decline.
As the new traffic in the online audio industry approaches saturation, the industry is now entering a stable development platform period. The commercial competition among major online audio platforms has inevitably entered a more critical stage. Building unique, high-quality content and technical barriers, as well as maintaining continuous user stickiness, have become key strategies for major platforms to stand out.
Data from Tianyancha Professional Edition shows that as of now, there are more than 24,000 audio-related companies; among them, more than 43 new related companies were registered from January to July 2024.
In terms of geographical distribution, Guangdong, Hunan and Anhui are the top three provinces in terms of the number of audio-related companies, with more than 92,000, more than 3,300 and more than 970 companies respectively; in terms of establishment time, more than half of the companies were established between 5 and 10 years ago, and related companies established between 1 and 5 years account for 27.8%.
