Is Luoji Siwei profitable in 2026?

No recent financial disclosure confirms profitability. The company itself claimed net margins above 10% in 2015-2016 and 25.2% in Q1 2017, but no audited figures have surfaced since its September 2020 ChiNext IPO filing, leaving current profitability unverifiable as of mid-2026.

Could AI replace Luoji Siwei's Dedao app?

The core risk is real: Dedao sells paid expert explainers, the exact category where rival Zhihu reported a 22% revenue drop and 21.2% MAU decline in 2025 explicitly tied to users querying AI chatbots instead of the platform, per thebambooworks.com, December 2025.

Who owns Luoji Siwei?

Luoji Siwei, founded in 2014 by Luo Zhenyu and Li Shan, remains privately held. Luo Zhenyu is reported to retain a substantial stake. No parent company or acquirer has been reported, and its 2020 ChiNext IPO filing never produced a confirmed public listing.

Did Luoji Siwei ever go public?

No confirmed IPO. Under the entity name Siwei Zaowu, it filed for a ChiNext listing on September 27, 2020, seeking RMB 1.04 billion at an implied RMB 4 billion valuation, but no completion, withdrawal, or refiling has been publicly confirmed since.

Who is Luoji Siwei's biggest competitor?

Ximalaya FM is the dominant audio rival, claiming 300-400 million MAUs in 2025 and acquired by Tencent Music that year. Zhihu and ByteDance's Douyin, with roughly 800 million MAU, also compete for the same paid-knowledge and content-attention market.

How many users does Dedao have?

Marketing on igetget.com claimed over 35 million users as of June 2026, a company-stated figure. This compares to a third-party reported 3.5 million monthly active users disclosed in the company's September 2020 ChiNext IPO filing.

China · China

Luoji Siwei

Chinese paid knowledge platform (Dedao app) selling expert audio courses and books.

Little protection left

Assessed 29 July 2026 · Evidence as of 29 July 2026

Not much stands between this business and its pressures.

On the recordSince 29 July 2026 · Checkable from end of 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Any resumed ChiNext IPO filing or new financial disclosure revealing subscriber and MAU trends

The call

Dedao sells explanations that AI chatbots now give away for free, and its closest public peer is already shrinking for exactly that reason.

Luoji Siwei (also known as Dedao) sells recorded lessons and explanations from expert teachers as paid audio courses and subscriptions. A very similar company called Zhihu is losing 16 to 22 percent of its paying customers each year because people now get the same information free from AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Chinese AI search engines. Luoji Siwei has not built its own AI product to compete, does not own special data that rivals cannot copy, and has not released major new features in years, which means the company faces the same threat as Zhihu. The one thing that could save it: if the next financial report shows Luoji Siwei's paying users are still growing or holding steady, the company might have found something to keep customers locked in, but if subscriber numbers fall like Zhihu's have, the business model is in real danger.

Why

AI pressure: Free AI chatbots and AI search (Doubao, DeepSeek, Kimi, ChatGPT). People now ask a chatbot for the same expert explanation Dedao used to sell, for free and instantly. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.

Bigger players: Tencent (WeChat, Tencent Music/Ximalaya) and ByteDance (Douyin/Toutiao). Tencent now owns Ximalaya and is pouring R&D into AI audio and personalization, squeezing smaller paid-knowledge apps from the platform side. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Luo Zhenyu's personal following and the brand trust built around named instructors, if the company chooses to lean on it.

What would change this call

Dedao files or updates a ChiNext IPO prospectus disclosing MAU or paid-subscriber counts. Would show whether Dedao is losing users at Zhihu-like double-digit rates from AI substitution.
Dedao launches (or continues not to launch) any AI-native product using its instructor content by end-2026. Absence signals no defensive response to AI disintermediation seen at Zhihu.
Tencent-owned Ximalaya launches a premium creator-led knowledge product competing directly with Dedao's course catalog. Would show a larger, AI-equipped rival encroaching on Dedao's core paid-knowledge niche.

Key numbers

Dedao app had 3.5M monthly active users (2020-09-27)
Zhihu, the closest public peer, saw revenue fall 22% y/y (2025-12-03)
Zhihu MAU fell 21.2% y/y, cited to AI substitution (2024-01-01)

Named risks

Core paid-explainer product directly substitutable by free AI chatbots, as shown by Zhihu's 2025 declines. Severity: high
No public AI product or defensive feature shipped by Dedao as of mid-2026. Severity: high
2020 ChiNext IPO filing status unresolved for six years, financial transparency absent. Severity: medium
Sector consolidation (Tencent Music acquiring Ximalaya) could squeeze smaller players like Dedao. Severity: medium
Tightening China content and AI regulation raising compliance costs for knowledge-content creators. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Zhihu	losing to	Zhihu already fighting AI with Zhida (June 2024) while Dedao shows no counter-move by 2026
Ximalaya	losing to	Ximalaya claims 300-400M MAU in 2025 and was acquired by Tencent Music, gaining scale
ByteDance (Douyin)	losing to	Douyin's roughly 800M MAU dwarfs Dedao's reported user base as of 2025
Tencent/Ximalaya	gaining on	Ximalaya reports RMB 420M 2025 R&D spend on AI (TTS, Everest Labs) with no Dedao equivalent

Questions people ask

Is Luoji Siwei profitable in 2026?: No recent financial disclosure confirms profitability. The company itself claimed net margins above 10% in 2015-2016 and 25.2% in Q1 2017, but no audited figures have surfaced since its September 2020 ChiNext IPO filing, leaving current profitability unverifiable as of mid-2026.
Could AI replace Luoji Siwei's Dedao app?: The core risk is real: Dedao sells paid expert explainers, the exact category where rival Zhihu reported a 22% revenue drop and 21.2% MAU decline in 2025 explicitly tied to users querying AI chatbots instead of the platform, per thebambooworks.com, December 2025.
Who owns Luoji Siwei?: Luoji Siwei, founded in 2014 by Luo Zhenyu and Li Shan, remains privately held. Luo Zhenyu is reported to retain a substantial stake. No parent company or acquirer has been reported, and its 2020 ChiNext IPO filing never produced a confirmed public listing.
Did Luoji Siwei ever go public?: No confirmed IPO. Under the entity name Siwei Zaowu, it filed for a ChiNext listing on September 27, 2020, seeking RMB 1.04 billion at an implied RMB 4 billion valuation, but no completion, withdrawal, or refiling has been publicly confirmed since.
Who is Luoji Siwei's biggest competitor?: Ximalaya FM is the dominant audio rival, claiming 300-400 million MAUs in 2025 and acquired by Tencent Music that year. Zhihu and ByteDance's Douyin, with roughly 800 million MAU, also compete for the same paid-knowledge and content-attention market.
How many users does Dedao have?: Marketing on igetget.com claimed over 35 million users as of June 2026, a company-stated figure. This compares to a third-party reported 3.5 million monthly active users disclosed in the company's September 2020 ChiNext IPO filing.

Timeline

2026-06-05igetget.com marketing claims Dedao app has over 35 million users
2025-12-03Rival Zhihu reports Q3 revenue down 22% y/y, cites AI substitution
2025-01Ximalaya reportedly acquired by Tencent Music
2024-06Zhihu launches AI search product Zhida
2020-09-27Siwei Zaowu files ChiNext IPO seeking RMB 1.04 billion
2017-01Company valued at RMB 8 billion per company-reported figures
2016-12Company reports $135 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital
2015-10Company states it reached unicorn status
2014-01Luoji Siwei founded by Luo Zhenyu and Li Shan

Revision history

29 July 2026

First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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