Microsoft is working with Walmart to acquire TikTok

Shawn Knight

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Staff member
Bottom line: Microsoft is joining forces with retail giant Walmart in its bid to acquire TikTok’s US business arm from Chinese tech company ByteDance. The move could put increased pressure on others vying for the asset, like Oracle, but could also complicate the sales process.

CNBC was first to report on the partnership, which the publication said was confirmed by a Walmart spokesperson.

Axios suggests Walmart could help turn TikTok into more of an e-commerce app for users and creators. ByteDance apparently does something similar with another app in China, the publication noted.

The news comes shortly after TikTok CEO and ByteDance COO Kevin Mayer resigned from both positions after just a couple of months at the helm. Mayer had left a job at The Walt Disney Company for the roles.

Oracle, the database and cloud specialist based out of California, has also emerged as a frontrunner for TikTok in recent weeks. It’s plausible that Walmart also reached out to Oracle on a partnership but that’s mostly speculation at this hour.

Walmart as a partner could represent a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, the company has plenty of resources and e-commerce know-how. Conversely, Walmart already has a significant footprint in China which could make gaining regulatory approval a bit more complicated.

ByteDance could make its decision regarding the fate of TikTok in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as early as next week.

Image credit: BigTunaOnline, Jonathan Weiss

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I think this whole media debacle is for the reason that social media is the biggest ads generating platform. Facebook might have acquired instagram before it grew and added new features. Tiktok might become a rival to facebook, because of the user base, and because, what it takes to add a timeline to tiktok and become a social media hub?
 
I think this whole media debacle is for the reason that social media is the biggest ads generating platform. Facebook might have acquired instagram before it grew and added new features. Tiktok might become a rival to facebook, because of the user base, and because, what it takes to add a timeline to tiktok and become a social media hub?
Tik tok users don't want tik tok to become a rival to facebook. They also dont want it to replace instagram, or become a gross ecommerce platform like the article suggests.

Doing any of these things is a sure way to slowly kill the platform. Its already peaking (though few realize it yet) with a massive influx of youtube/instagram style influencers begging for likes and follows instead of just focusing on making interesting or entertaining content.

On a general note, I use tik tok way too much. Some people get dancing trends, I get self aware memes, gaming stuff, interesting science stuff, etc. That level of individual content delivery is why the platform is popular, and its not the side of TikTok that gets publicized on tech news websites full of users that feel empowered when they hate on everything popular with young people.
 
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