TikTok's parent company plans to take on China's food-delivery behemoths

The cash-flush Chinese owner of video-app sensation TikTok is doing what many meteoric companies in China have done before — taking hot new money and leaping into a totally different sector.

But for ByteDance — the owner of TikTok and its China-based equivalent, Douyin — its planned foray into China’s massive food-delivery market is notable for several reasons. Yet China’s once-crowded sector has consolidated into two dominant players that are now staple apps on most Chinese consumers’ smartphones. Meituan runs the show at an estimated 69% market share, with Alibaba’s Ele.me holding 26%, according to industry research firm ChinaIRN. That combined 95% piece of the pie doesn’t leave much room for ByteDance to wedge into.

A spokesperson for ByteDance — which did not respond to MarketWatch requests for comment — did recently tell Chinese media the company would expand food delivery to more cities based on trial results. The company is also actively recruiting management staff for food-delivery operations, Chinese media and analysts reported.

Not that billionaires sticking their hands into an array of cookie jars is new, or confined to China. Elon Musk may be the paragon of the ambitious diversifying magnate.

western financiers' favorite food: sXit

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