The combination of "aiyouteng" should be familiar to everyone. These three brothers are the three giants of long video and the three giants of loss . Their deeds of burning more than 100 billion yuan in ten years and making profits in the distant future have been circulating in the Jianghu. But now, the combination is gone. Because iqiyi has made a profit "quietly"
To tell the truth, when I saw this news, I was a little shocked.
At the end of last year, iqiyi released Q3 financial report of 2021, and the loss was getting worse and worse: the net loss in the quarter was 1.7 billion yuan, an increase of 42% over the same period in 2020.
In Q1 this year, iqiyi delivered a net profit of 170million yuan and an operating profit of 94.31 million yuan.
In just half a year, iqiyi betrayed the loss making three brothers???
Last year, Q3 financial report was issued, and the financial report fell sharply ▼
What did it do?
In fact, iqiyi's profitability does not mean that its revenue ability becomes stronger
In fact, in the past quarter, its revenue capacity was not as good as before**
The total revenue was nearly 7.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9%.
If you take a closer look at this table, you will find that only the revenue from member services is rising, advertising services, content distribution revenue and other revenues are falling**
Why is the revenue of member services rising?
One reason is that iqiyi increased its membership fee last year, and a single member brought more income.
The monthly renewal fee for the second consecutive month was 19 yuan ▼
Secondly, iqiyi released a wave of highly acclaimed dramas such as "the world", "xinju" and "the annual Comedy Competition" in this quarter. The high-quality content has warmed up the number of members .
Iqiyi's average income per member in this quarter was 14.69 yuan, compared with 13.64 yuan in the same period last year; The average number of daily subscription members in this quarter was 108 million, compared with 96.4 million in the previous quarter.
In this quarter, the member service revenue, which accounted for the majority of revenue, was 4.471 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%.
Online advertising services fell 30% year-on-year due to the decrease in the number of variety shows launched by iqiyi.
It is mainly caused by two points. One is that in recent years, due to the frequent chaos of domestic variety shows, there is now strict control over the talent selection of the idol cultivation department. The other is the new strategy of iqiyi.
What is the new strategy? We'll talk about it later.
The revenue capacity has weakened, but it has successfully turned losses into profits. Why?
Poor friends who react quickly should have thought: because the cost has dropped significantly**
To be more specific, depends on layoffs and cutting content**
I also admit to cutting a lot ~ ▼
Among them, the research and development expenses were 475million, a year-on-year decrease of 29%, mainly due to the decrease in personnel related salaries.
The expenditure on sales, general and administrative expenses was 744.8 million, a year-on-year decrease of 38%, which came from the decrease in marketing expenses, personnel related salary expenses, etc. in addition, the government subsidized 90.8 million.
All the above are "small heads". The most important thing is the decline in revenue and cost. The revenue and cost in this quarter was 6billion, a year-on-year decrease of 16%..
The key to the decline of revenue cost lies in the content cost. The content cost in this quarter was 4.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 19%.
This wave of results mainly comes from iqiyi's new content strategy: optimize content costs and improve operational efficiency**
Give a few chestnuts to give you a specific feeling
At the end of last year, chenyitao, the producer of the TV drama "Fengzi", posted a microblog, saying that the project was yellow due to financial problems.
It is said that this play is a play by iqiyi
You can also see such information in industry reports, such as the platform layoffs and the domino of "film and television cold wave" by Gold broker .
Iqiyi also made it clear that it would cut down small and medium-sized projects and put more money on the head projects while laying off staff.
Not only iqiyi, Tencent next door has only had two plays in three months, and the price of the series has also been lowered. The S-level copyright plays used to be 7million episodes, but now they are 5million.
There are fewer and fewer dramas that can pass, and those that have passed may also be cut.
You poor friends should find that iqiyi is not only reducing the cost of content, but also the mainstream video platforms.
Under such a content strategy, although the cost has dropped significantly, it has also caused many people's doubts, and even used the word drinking poison to quench thirst .
How do you say that?
Now iqiyi has cut down these content projects, and the expenditure of the video platform will soon decline. However, in the long run, the platform may face the shortage of high-quality content and the departure of members in the future.
At the same time, Mr. Biao thinks that the things that have happened to the loss making big three in recent years are very subtle
In your imagination, billions is a huge enough number. I feel that as long as you spend this money on content, you should be able to produce a lot of high-quality content!
But now, as an ordinary video consumer, it seems that I can count the good dramas that have been passed down by word of mouth over the years.
In 2022, netizens are still studying the legend of Zhen Huan
What is the problem? Is it true that too many items have been purchased, resulting in the loss of the long video platform?
Has the star's pay really dropped
Although the state has issued relevant regulations, some industry insiders have disclosed that some stars are unwilling to reduce their pay, and finally the cooperation is yellow.
Is the cost transparent from the platform to the production company
A colleague of Mr. aberration reviewer, who worked in related industries before, told me about the operation of the production company. The production company made a TV play and quoted 43million yuan for the platform. If it costs 40million yuan, we will earn 3million yuan. But the actual cost is not so high at all. It is all done.
For example, the price of props has been raised, and the price of labor has risen again. Many things have no contracts and cannot be checked.
Are platforms still chasing traffic niche without brains
Well known screenwriter wanghailin's comments are wonderful ▼
I don't know if this is a common phenomenon, but the possibility still exists
However, each of the three platforms drops billions every year, but users still cannot see enough high-quality dramas
Should platforms also reflect on these?
In combination with the current situation, the poor judge feels that it is better to say that iqiyi has finally made a profit than iqiyi has finally made a profit, but it is really bad to say whether it can go on with a smile.
By the way, why is it so urgent to make profits?
Um
Do you think this has anything to do with the following two news stories?
In March this year, when iqiyi released last year's financial report, CEO Gongyu said that iqiyi took the lead in opening a new stage of China's long-term video industry, which is different from the previous pursuit of high-speed growth. Now the turning point has come.
To judge you badly, it is not a turning point to make the financial report beautiful and beautiful for a short time through the means of some capitalists.
If we can really make more good plays on the basis of lowering the cost, and set an example for the industry: brothers, don't get involved, don't spend money wrongly, and don't find traffic stars, we can still produce enough good and high-quality content, so that users can pay the bill happily.
Until that day, it will be the victory of iqiyi