ByteDance will phase out its overseas news app TopBuzz, IT Home quoted a person close to ByteDance as saying.
Currently, the app is no longer searchable in the App Store and can still be found in Google Play, but only in Japanese, with the latest update date stuck on May 9.
The original downloaded TopBuzz app still supports browsing content, but some accounts have stopped updating.
In response, ByteDance said, "This is a normal adjustment to the business."
TopBuzz originally went live in August 2015 and was the first step in ByteDance's globalization.
In March 2017, TopBuzz overtook Twitter to rank #1 on the North American App Store news list.
At the end of 2017, TopBuzz and TopBuzz Video were named Brazil's Most Popular App of the Year and America's Most Popular App of the Year, respectively, in Google Play's App of the Year competition.
As of now, TopBuzz maintains a high rating of 4.5 stars in Google Play (out of 5 stars).
While TopBuzz has been popular with users in some countries and regions, the former has been undercooked compared to the popularity of TikTok in the global market.
Meanwhile, as a product from a Chinese company, TopBuzz also faces the same untrustworthy dilemma that TikTok encountered in the US.
In November 2019, US authorities launched a national security investigation into TikTok.
In January this year, the U.S. military called for a ban on all military personnel using TikTok on government-issued smartphones.
In March, Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley said he would introduce a bill that would ban U.S. federal government employees from using TikTok on their devices, and TopBuzz's news properties could make things tougher for ByteDance in North America.
Now, with ByteDance positioning itself more clearly overseas, bringing in Disney executive Kevin Mayer to focus on building entertainment products, the TopBuzz business is further reduced to the margins.
Last September, The Information had reported that "ByteDance is in talks to sell TopBuzz". One ByteDance shareholder, who asked not to be named, said that in the U.S. market, ByteDance was wise to abandon TopBuzz and focus more resources on TikTok. In response, ByteDance said he would not comment.
