As 2024 nears, companies are gearing up for future growth. On December 25, Beijing Business Daily reported that Huya, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, finalized an agreement with a Tencent Holdings subsidiary to acquire a global mobile application service provider for $81 million in cash, subject to standard price adjustments. While neither Huya nor Tencent named the target, sources cited in the report suggest it is APKPure, an overseas app store owned by Tencent.
Public records indicate that APKPure, originally a product of a Chinese internet company, focuses on overseas app store operations and was acquired by Tencent in 2021. Huya plans to integrate the financial results of this mobile application service provider into its own. The acquisition aims to bolster Huya’s capabilities in promoting and distributing game applications globally, creating synergies with its overseas game streaming platform, Nimo TV. This move aligns with Huya’s strategy to transform its business toward game-related services and monetization.
Huya has faced challenges as game live streaming declines. Since Q4 2021, the company has seen eight consecutive quarters of year-on-year revenue drops, with paying users decreasing from 5.6 million to 4.2 million by Q3 2023. In Q3 2023, Huya’s revenue was 1.65 billion yuan, down 40% year-on-year, while its non-GAAP net profit remained stable at 103 million yuan. Live broadcast revenue fell 24.1% to 1.532 billion yuan from 2.017 billion yuan, and advertising and other revenue dropped 67.9% to 116 million yuan from 361 million yuan in the same period last year.
