Meitu
Chinese maker of Meitu, BeautyCam, and RoboNeo photo/design apps with 276M users.
On the record
Checkpoint: MeituHub developer/API platform launch, plus Alibaba convertible bond conversion window opening
The call
Meitu keeps growing profit and subscribers while ByteDance and phone makers circle the same photo-editing turf without yet drawing blood.
Meitu is a Chinese company that makes phone apps and software to edit photos with AI, add filters, and design images. The company has been profitable and growing fast, helped by 15 years of data about how people want their photos to look and a tie-up with Alibaba's online shopping platform. But the core problem is real: big companies like ByteDance (which owns the app CapCut), Apple, and Xiaomi can all build the same photo-editing tools into their own apps or phones, and there is nothing stopping them. The company is trying to shift to selling tools to other businesses instead of just consumers, and that move could make Meitu harder to replace, but it is not guaranteed to work if phones start coming with built-in AI editing as standard.
Why
01
AI pressure: Phone-native AI camera tools from Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei. If phones do one-tap beauty editing natively, Meitu's free-tier funnel into paid subscriptions could dry up fast. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: ByteDance (CapCut, Jianying, Faceu, Xingtu). ByteDance has cloned Meitu's tools for years with more platform reach, but hasn't yet dented Meitu's subscriber growth. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. 15+ years of beauty-specific data, its own MiracleVision model, and Alibaba's Taobao/Tmall merchant imagery pipeline lock people into its workflow.
What would change this call
MeituHub developer/API platform launches August 5, 2026 and reports third-party adoption. Shows whether Meitu becomes a B2B imaging platform or stays a consumer app portfolio.
Apple, Xiaomi, or Huawei ship native AI photo editing that coincides with a drop in Meitu's China MAU or subscriber growth. Would show phone-native AI is commoditizing Meitu's core filter/retouch product.
Meitu's quarterly paying-subscriber growth rate falls below 20% YoY in 2026. Would indicate ByteDance, Kuaishou, or OEM tools are starting to erode its subscriber base.
Apple, Xiaomi, or Huawei ship native AI photo editing that coincides with a drop in Meitu's China MAU or subscriber growth. Would show phone-native AI is commoditizing Meitu's core filter/retouch product.
Meitu's quarterly paying-subscriber growth rate falls below 20% YoY in 2026. Would indicate ByteDance, Kuaishou, or OEM tools are starting to erode its subscriber base.
Key numbers
- FY2025 revenue RMB 3.858B, up 28.8%
- 16.91M paying subscribers, up 34.1% YoY
- 276M MAU, over 100M overseas for first time
Named risks
- Smartphone OEMs embedding native AI camera editing could commoditize Meitu's core consumer filter product.
- MeituHub developer platform, opening August 5, 2026, could fail to attract meaningful third-party uptake.
- Alibaba partnership could stall before converting into durable e-commerce workflow lock-in.
- Stock volatility with 52-week range HK$3.56 to HK$12.56 tied heavily to AI narrative sentiment.
- Advertising revenue declined 1.3% YoY in FY2025, showing weakness outside AI subscription growth.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| ByteDance (CapCut, Faceu, Xingtu) | contesting | Coexists with Meitu in China beauty/filter market; no visible share erosion through FY2025 per Meitu's own 34.1% subscriber growth |
| Smartphone OEMs (Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi) | gaining on | Native AI camera/editing features flagged as structural risk to Meitu's core filters, not yet realized in 2025-2026 financials |
| Kuaishou (KwaiCut) | contesting | Competes in lower-tier Chinese cities per competitive analysis dated 2026-03-20 |
| Adobe (Firefly, Creative Cloud) | contesting | Adobe Digital Media ARR reached $18.09B, up 11% YoY, as of Q2 2025, operating in adjacent design market |
| Canva | contesting | Reported ARR crossed $3.3B at roughly $42B valuation, competes in adjacent design/AI tools space, cited 2025-09-03 |
Questions people ask
- Is Meitu profitable in 2026?
- Yes. Meitu posted FY2025 adjusted net profit of RMB 965 million, up 64.7% year over year, marking its 7th consecutive year of profit growth, per its March 27, 2026 annual results filed with HKEX.
- Could AI replace Meitu's core app?
- Meitu's one-tap beauty filters face commoditization risk from smartphone OEM camera AI and generic diffusion tools, but Meitu itself runs MiracleVision V6, its own foundation model handling about 96.3% of internal AI requests as of May 2026, per company data.
- Who is Meitu's biggest competitor?
- ByteDance's CapCut, Faceu and Xingtu are the most direct rivals in China's beauty and short-video editing market, alongside Kuaishou's KwaiCut and global players like Canva and Adobe, though Meitu's 30%+ subscriber growth through 2025 shows no visible erosion yet.
- Who owns Meitu?
- Meitu is publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under 1357.HK with no controlling parent. Founder Wu Zeyuan has been increasing his stake, most recently disclosed July 3, 2026, and Alibaba holds a US$250 million convertible bond that could give it about 6.82% upon conversion.
- Is Meitu still making phones?
- No. Meitu exited hardware; under a November 19, 2018 agreement, Xiaomi holds the exclusive global license for the Meitu smartphone brand, and Meitu today operates purely as a software and AI imaging company.
- What is Meitu's revenue growth in 2025?
- Meitu reported FY2025 total revenue of RMB 3.858 billion, up 28.8% year over year, driven largely by its Photo/Video/Design segment which grew 41.6% to RMB 2.954 billion, per its March 27, 2026 annual results.
Timeline
- 2026-07-03Founder Wu Zeyuan discloses on-market increase in personal Meitu shareholding
- 2026-06-17Meitu Multimedia Festival launches MiracleVision V6 and four new AI products
- 2026-05-05Q1 2026 update: paying subscribers exceed 17.9 million, up 30.2% YoY
- 2026-03-27FY2025 annual results: revenue RMB 3.858B, adjusted net profit RMB 965M
- 2025-12-31Alibaba's US$250M convertible bond investment in Meitu closes
- 2025-05-20Meitu and Alibaba announce strategic AI and e-commerce imaging partnership
- 2018-11-19Xiaomi and Meitu sign global strategic agreement, Xiaomi gets phone brand license
- 2016-01-01Meitu lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board as 1357.HK
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Meitu 2025 Annual Results (2026-03-27)
- Meitu 2025 Annual Results Adjusted Net Profit Surges 64.7% YoY (2026-03-30)
- HKEX, Annual Results Announcement FY2025 (2026-03-27)
- Meitu Q1 2026 subscriber update (2026-05-05)
- Barchart, Meitu 2025 results (2026-03-27)
- stockanalysis.com Meitu financial snapshot (2026-06-26)
- Revelio Labs, Meitu Employee Count & Headcount Data (2026-06-29)
- Meitu-Alibaba strategic partnership details (2025-05-20)
- HKEX, Completion of Convertible Bonds Issue (2025-12-31)
- Alibaba backs Meitu AI with $250m bond (2026-01-03)
- HKEX Voluntary Announcement, Increase in Shareholding by Founder (2026-07-03)
- gurufocus.com company data (2026-07-22)