Despite facing troubles with its popular short video application TikTok, the parent company behind the project, ByteDance, has now announced that it has started work on a TikTok branded smartphone.
As per reports, ByteDance has confirmed that it is creating a smartphone in a “continuation” of a project from Chinese phone maker Smartisan. While little is known about the phone as of now, reports claim that ByteDance has already gotten its hands on patents and has hired some staff from Smartisan to work on the TikTok phone.
While the phone has been announced to be in the works, there’s no real guarantee that the TikTok phone will ever make it to India. The reason for that is that the manufacturer behind it, Smartisan, is a niche brand in China itself and has limited manufacturing capabilities.
However, considering TikTok’s massive popularity across the globe, the company could eventually bring the smartphone to global markets in the future.
It is also interesting to note the timing of the launch. Since its launch, TikTok has been quite popular with users. However, ByteDance, the parent company behind popular music application TikTok, has been faced with one scandal after the other since the turn of the year.
This is also not the first time we are hearing of the TikTok phone. Earlier, there have been hush reports that talked about the phone and what it would bring with it. Reports have suggested that the phone would bring with it preloaded apps from ByteDance including news app Jinri Toutiao, TikTok and a rumoured upcoming music streaming service.
As the report explains, the phone is part of the company CEO Zhang Yiming’s dream of building a smartphone with the company’s apps. The news about the TikTok phone would also make sense considering that the Beijing-based company confirmed a deal with phone maker Smartisan earlier this year under which it acquired patent portfolio and hired some Smartisan employees.
SOURCE: TIMES NOW
