Meitu
Native name | 厦门美图网科技有限公司（美图公司） | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company type | Public | ||||||
| SEHK: 1357 | |||||||
| Industry | Consumer electronics | ||||||
| Founded | 2008 | ||||||
| Headquarters | , | ||||||
| Products | Smartphones, Software, Air conditioner | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 美图公司 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 美圖公司 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | Beautiful Picture | ||||||
| |||||||
| Xiamen Meitu Network Technology Co., Ltd. | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 厦门美图网科技有限公司 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 廈門美圖網科技有限公司 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Website | http://corp.meitu.com/en/ | ||||||
Meitu Inc. is a Chinese technology company established in 2008 and headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian.[1][2] It makes smartphones and selfie apps.[1]
Financials
On August 18, 2025, Meitu Inc. (1357.HK) announced H1 2025 financial report: total revenue reached RMB 1.8 billion, a YoY increase of 12.3%. Adjusted net profit attributable to owners of the company rose 71.3% YoY to RMB 467 million.[3]
Offices
Meitu is based in Xiamen, China. Outside of China, Meitu has set up offices in Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States.[4]
Controversy
On January 20, 2017, CNN reported Meitu apps are collecting information about users for advertising purposes, and sends that data back to servers in China.[5] But Meitu denied CNN's report that the app is leaking users' privacy. The company said collecting users' data is to "optimize app performance, its effects and features, and to better understand our consumer engagement with in-app advertisements" in an official statement.[6] The permissions include certain geolocation and app-checking code to comply with advertising network requirements in China, where jailbroken devices can be used to defraud advertisers, and advertisers may demand that their messages be geofenced to appear only in certain regions. Apple confirmed that the app was and remains in compliance.[7]
Beauty standards in China have become linked to Meitu. It has become common practice in China for people, largely women, to take their Meitu edited pictures to plastic surgeons as examples for what they want to look like.[8]
In June 2020, the Government of India banned Meitu app with 58 other Chinese origin apps citing data and privacy issues. The border tensions in 2020 between India and China might have also played a role in the ban.[9]
References
- ^ a b Millward, Steven (August 24, 2016). "In China, a startup that turned selfies into a billion-dollar business". Tech In Asia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ Chen, Carrie (April 14, 2016). "Xiamen Meitu mulls HK IPO". The Standard. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ 格隆汇APP (2025-08-18). "美图吴欣鸿谈2025上半年增长：AI应用取得突破，全球付费订阅用户数提升". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
- ^ "Meitu Linkedin".
- ^ "Viral selfie app under fire for sneaky data collection". CNN. January 20, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
- ^ "Meitu selfie-editing app denies invasion of user privacy". ZDNet. January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ "Here's How To Track The Smartphone Apps That Are Tracking You". Fast Company. 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
- ^ Fan, Jiayang (2017-12-11). "China's Selfie Obsession". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ^ "India bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, Helo, WeChat". The Economic Times. July 3, 2020.