In the first half of 2025, the short play industry continued to be at the forefront of the tide, becoming a major highlight in the area of digital entertainment. China ‘ s microdramatic platform is rapidly expanding to overseas markets, but the latest profit-making report of the short-dramatic platform ‘ s parent company reveals that short-dramatic operations are also faced with profitability challenges and high-cost pressures as well.
The financial disclosure in the first half of 2025 revealed a common trend: losses were increasing despite steady income growth. The growth in sales revenues has been reported by the Chinese online (ReelShort platform), hand-held and Quinlan (DramaWave and DramaReels), but its expanding micro-short play is still at a high level of input.
In the first half of 2025, Chinese online revenue increased by 20.4 per cent from year to year, to $556 million, but its net loss increased by 50 per cent to RMB 226 million, which companies attributed to “continuous overseas market expansion and content investment”. The cost of sales online in Chinese increased from 186 million in the same period last year to 266 million, an increase of 42.78 per cent over the same period. This input rate is associated with the newly launched FlareFlow, an overseas short play platform.
The strong performance of the FlareFlow since its launch has been on the line for only three months, with a monthly increase of more than 500 per cent in the value of the user income and a cumulative download of about 10 million people, with the number of teams expanding to more than 350. There are currently more than 1,700 short plays on the platform. However, ReelShort, a short play platform developed under the Chinese online flag, did not perform very well, with a profit of $2.765 billion for the first half of the year, 2.7 times more than in the same year, but net profits were reversed and a loss of $4.65 million.
Revenues from access to science and technology increased by 14.6 per cent, with approximately $1.526 billion collected in the first half of the year, of which the short-time business camp received $838 million, an increase of 149 per cent over the same period, with a remarkable performance. However, the operating deficit increased by 226 per cent to RMB 123 million. Moreover, the net profit of the parent company lost $170 million, a decline of 205 per cent over the same period.
These costs are mainly for marketing promotion and user access, and such inputs are inevitable in the context of the high reliance on external channels and the introduction of fees in the short play industry. But that is why, despite the rapid expansion of the short play business at hand, the profit turning point has yet to be achieved. In-industry analysis suggests that access requires further optimization of the cost structure in order to establish a firm foothold in highly competitive markets.
Kuala Lumpur has benefited from the growth of the flagship AI mega-model, with an increase of 49.23 per cent in the first half of the year, to $3.733 billion. The SMS platform earns $583 million, with a Māori rate of 83.09 per cent. DramaWave, the flagship microdramatic platform, reported an annualization loss of $240 million and a monthly revenue of more than $20 million, but a net loss increased significantly due to high user acquisition costs.
Nevertheless, the company ‘ s net loss of $856 million in the first half of the year was mainly due to the increase in AI R & D and market inputs. Sales costs almost doubled and management and R & D costs increased significantly. Through AI technology to optimize content production and distribution, companies hope to achieve cost control and profit breakthroughs in the future.
China’s microtrama applications, such as Serreal+, iDrama and DramaWave, have emerged rapidly in recent years, attracting a global audience with their short 60 to 120-second series. These platforms provide material on such topics as love, revenge and family dramas, which cater for the recreational needs of fragmentation time. According to the market research company Sensor Tower, these applications received more than 50 million downloads globally in the second quarter of 2025, with markets in North America and South-East Asia prevailing.
According to the six-monthly reports of three enterprises, the short play industry is expanding at a high rate. Revenue growth was generally strong, especially in overseas markets, and the application of AI technology was key to reducing costs. The common problem, however, is the increase in losses, with high marketing costs and R&D inputs becoming the main drag. Industry continues to rely on payments and external channels, and profit patterns are not yet ripe.
Looking to the future, short play enterprises need to find a balance between size and fine-tuning operations. Overseas exports and AI innovation may be a source of differential competition, but cost management will be at the heart of decisions about success or failure. The short play is hot, but the test of reality is just beginning. Only those players that can effectively control costs and enhance user viscosity can emerge on this track.