iQIYI Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) (“iQIYI”), an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, which has over 100 million paid subscribers, has chosen Malaysia as the launchpad for its iQIYI App. Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad (‘Astro’) is iQIYI’s first app partner outside China, taking the lead in marketing, customer acquisition and media sales.
The iQIYI App will be available to all Malaysians on mobile devices (Android & iOS) and Apple TV, where they can access a vast array of content for free or subscribe to the VIP Gold or VIP Diamond memberships at RM12.90 and RM23.90 per month respectively for exclusive content, ad-free. Astro customers will enjoy exclusive privileges such as 2-month free VIP membership and attractive discounts.
Yang Xianghua, President of Membership and Overseas Business Group of iQIYI said, “The exchanges and communications of global content have become more accessible with the help of wireless technology, data storage technology and big-data analytics. We hope to provide quality entertainment services to overseas users by sharing our research and development results, data storage capability and computing power with our partners.”
“With strong marketing capabilities, outstanding content creation and distribution strength, Astro has been a close partner of iQIYI. We share the same belief of providing users with high-quality entertainment experiences through technological innovation and content creativity. And we are confident that this close partnership will continue to fully synergise through the creativity and capabilities of both parties to provide users in Malaysia with better services.”
Henry Tan, CEO of Astro said, “Astro is excited to be iQIYI’s first app partner outside China. We believe this is the start of many more initiatives with iQIYI. The partnership is timely as we are seeing growing streaming services and interest as consumers are able to enjoy the rich content choices in a convenient and personalised manner. iQIYI is at the forefront of video streaming, offering both compelling content and a good user experience. In addition, we look forward to benefit from iQIYI in data analytics and AI.”
Astro will continue to serve Malaysians with compelling content and experiences, and now best-in- class video streaming services.
The Astro-iQIYI partnership started in 2017 with Hot Blood Dance Crew, same day date with China. Astro also has had the honour to hold the audition for iQIYI’s widely popular The Rap of China. Today the partnership will see the first content collaboration between Astro and iQIYI for three of Astro originals – Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant, Call Me Handsome and a web drama Why So Famous, which will be featured on the iQIYI App. These collaborations will enable Malaysian talents and content to be featured on a global stage and enjoyed by a wider audience.
iQIYI App presents the hottest content including dramas, variety shows, movies and anime. Users can look forward to enjoying the latest shows including Sword Dynasty, Tientsin Mystic 2, Once Upon a Time in LingJian Mountain, Hot-Blooded Youth, Detective Chinatown, iPARTMENT 5 and My Roommate is a Detective among others.
