Overseasidol.com — In the latest development of the global digital entertainment landscape, a wave of Chinese free-to-watch short drama apps is rapidly capturing markets around the world, creating fierce competition for traditional paid platforms.
Once focused primarily on the U.S. market, these platforms have now made inroads into countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Colombia, and South Korea.
According to statistics from DataEye, by March 2025, the number of short drama apps targeting overseas users had reached 237, up 2.6% from 231 in February, and nearly four times higher than in March 2024.
Interestingly, each region has seen different leaders emerge. DramaWave, by Kunlun Wanwei, topped South Korea’s Google Play entertainment chart on April 12, surpassing even Netflix.
In Mexico, Rapid TV from Kennedy led the rankings, while Brazil’s top app was Crazy Popcorn.
In Southeast Asia, Micro Drama by JianZhouTech was the most-used mini-drama app in Indonesia during February.
ByteDance, the creator of China’s hit short drama platform Hongguo, is now replicating its success overseas through its app Melolo.
Since its launch in November in Southeast Asia, Melolo has expanded to over 30 countries and regions, reaching over 670,000 monthly active users with a month-on-month growth of 193%. Indonesia accounts for nearly 70% of downloads, followed by Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Meanwhile in Japan, PikoShow, a paid drama app under ByteDance’s international content arm Fizzo, has found major success with its drama Glass Engagement, which garnered over 8 million views within its first month.
This industry is still far from saturated. In 2024, global user payment penetration for short dramas was just 5–20%, signaling ample room for future growth.
Chinese companies are leveraging their deep domestic experience to quickly gain ground in this booming global segment.
The international short drama market is now estimated to be worth $35 to $36 billion USD.
In Q1 2025 alone, in-app purchases for these apps surpassed 2.4 billion yuan, and total downloads soared to 259 million.
On the advertising front, over 1.27 million ad creatives were deployed, already reaching 70% of the entire 2024 total within just one quarter.