A look at Ximalaya, the online audio platform at the summit of China’s ‘ear economy’.
People visit the stand of online audio service platform Ximalaya FM during the Shanghai Book Fair, August 17, 2016. Credit: Imaginechina via AP Images
Listening to podcasts has become a favorite way for commuters the world over to while away their journeys, and China is no exception. One company scaling the peaks of the local industry is Ximalaya, whose output accounted for nearly two-thirds of the online audio market in China last year, according to data mining company iiMedia Research.
Founded in 2012, Ximalaya originally had a target of 10 million subscribers — just two years later, it had reached 100 million. Podcasts are a big part of the company’s offering, with more growth to come: one in ten Chinese people will be listening to a podcast at least once a month by 2024, consultancy Brands Without Borders reckons.
Source: Insider Intelligence. Note: 2023 is expected.
This week, we take a look at Ximalaya’s place in the world of online audio and podcasting, and reflect on where the industry could go from here.
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Ximalaya’s two founders, Yu Jianyun and Chen Yuxin (sometimes referred to
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