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iQIYI runs a major Chinese video streaming website, making money from subscriptions and ads.
iQIYI is one of China's biggest online video platforms, a bit like Netflix but built for Chinese viewers. People use it to watch movies, TV dramas, variety shows, and especially animation, on their phones, laptops, or smart TVs. It is also part-owned by Baidu, China's big search engine company.
The company makes money in two main ways. First, it sells memberships: pay a monthly fee and you get to skip ads, watch new episodes early, and see premium shows. Second, it sells advertising, including ads that non-paying viewers must sit through. Memberships bring in more money, but ads matter too. The hard part is cost. Making and licensing shows is expensive, and viewers are picky, so iQIYI spends heavily on original content to keep people coming back and paying. Its biggest rival is Tencent Video, owned by the giant Tencent, which has deeper pockets. That rivalry means bidding for shows and stars gets pricey, and both sides bleed money. iQIYI has mostly lost money for years, though it has pushed to trim losses by cutting costs and raising prices. One interesting edge: iQIYI built a strong reputation for animation and youth-oriented shows, and it has experimented with interactive dramas where viewers choose the plot. It also launched a cheaper ad-supported tier to pull in price-sensitive users. The whole business depends on a simple loop: spend on shows people love, turn them into paying subscribers, and hope the subscription money eventually outruns the content bill.
Saved answer · last researched 22 Oct 2026
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