Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the iQIYI Q4 and Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Chang Yu, Investor Relations Director. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining iQIYI's Q4 and Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. The company's results were released today and are available on the company's investor relations website at ir.iqiyi.com. On the call today are Mr. Yu Gong, our Founder, Director and CEO. Mr. Jun Wang, our CFO. Mr. Xiaohui Wang, our CCO, Chief Content Officer. Mr. Wenfeng Liu, our CTO, Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Youqiao Duan, Senior Vice President of our membership business. Mr. Xianghua Yang, Senior Vice President of movie and overseas business. Mr. Gang Wu, Senior Vice President of brand advertising business. Mr. Gong will give a brief overview of today's company's business operations and highlights, followed by Jun, who will go through the financials. After the prepared remarks, Xiaohui, Wenfeng, Youqiao, Xianghua, and Gang will join Mr. Gong and Jun in the Q&A session.
Before we proceed, please note that the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but not limited to those outlined in the public filings with the SEC. iQIYI does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Mr. Gong. Please go ahead.
Hello, everyone. We wrapped up the macro year of turnaround with outstanding performance in Q4 2022. Our market share reached a historical high, so were our membership revenues, operating profits, and free cash flow. To be specific, in Q4, we launched six blockbuster dramas with subscribing members time spent growing by over 40% annually and 13% sequentially, which is unprecedented. As a result, we continue to gain market share o ur leadership in terms of effective video views in the drama category remained unchallenged according to Endata data. A strong content performance brought the highest quarterly membership revenues in our history, at 15% annually and 13% sequentially. In Q4, our average daily number of total subscribing members was 111.6 million, represents a sequential net addition of more than 10 million.
The number of subscribing numbers as of the end of December was 119.7 million, represents a net addition of over 13 million compared with the end of September. In the meantime, our advertising business continued to recover with a sequential growth rate of 25%. Move on to profit w e had a record-setting quarter of CNY 979 million non-GAAP operating profit, up 87% compared with last quarter. The non-GAAP operating margin continued to expand for the fifth consecutive quarter and reached 13% in Q4, a showcase of operating leverage embedded in our business model. In Q4, free cash flow reached over CNY 840 million, grew by 4.7 times compared with Q3. We have been generating positive free cash flow for two consecutive quarters.
The outstanding Q4 performance is not a surprise. In fact, our Q4 performance may just be the start if we look ahead for one or two years. The driving force behind our current and the future success is our ability to produce and deliver highly quality, popular original content, which is our unique core competence. iQIYI Original, known as the synonym to the must-see show, iQIYI's brand reputation has been elevated from iQIYI as capable of creating blockbusters to iQIYI as the blockbuster powerhouse. As a perfect footnote to our statement, right after the closing of 4Q 2022, we launched the original drama, The Knockout 狂飙. It become another major hit, broke records across every key metrics.
The fastest to break iQIYI Popularity Index of 10,000, highest peak popularity index, highest daily user time spent, largest daily audience, and highest membership revenue. The Knockout also generated tremendous social buzz and become a true nationwide phenomenon. The success of the show demonstrates that the production and the operation of our original content had entered into a virtue cycle. Flywheel effect have been released. The stable premium content supply, drive user growth, improves cost efficiency and profitability, which supports the company to create more premium content. We firmly believe the success is replicable, and we could exceed our past performance in the future. Why do we believe that our original drama production capability is unique and cannot be easily copied? Creating blockbusters has no shortcuts. To get where we are today, we invested numerous resourcing, including time, capital, talent, and technology.
We initiated our original content strategy back in 2014 and made sub-substantial breakthroughs in 2022 after almost a decade of persistent efforts. In the most recent two years, our investment in original content almost reached the RMB 10 billion. With time and money, we have established in-house studios that bring together the industry's most creative talents. We have also gradually established a complex, data-driven, and highly efficient decision-making system that can capture every critical moment in the entire life cycle of content production. As a result, we witnessed the gradual ramp-up of high-quality original dramas. Among the key dramas we launched each year, the proportion of original production increased from 20% in 2018 to over 50% in 2022.
For 2022, the original content accounted for over 60% of blockbuster dramas, and also contributed over 60% of the revenue during the new release window in Q4. The total subscribing members spent on original content doubled year-over-year. Hence, we conclude that we enjoy the structural advantages that are very difficult to others to imitate. The entry barrier is extremely high. In the past 12 months, we have completed three rounds of capital raising. We've received total around $1.3 billion to remove debt overhang. We truly appreciate the generous support of our investors who are as confident as we are in the future of iQIYI. With a healthier balance sheet and a cash generating business, the management will be able to focus entirely on accelerating the company's growth, creating more value for our investors.
Looking ahead to 2023, we will start a brand new journey. We have upgraded our 2023 annual goal to achieving high quality growth. Under this strategy, our goal is to achieve growth in revenue and operating profit. To realize high quality growth, we will continue to invest in our core business, while remain cautious while assessing material new business opportunities. We will continue to invest in top premium content to maintain a high quality yet diversified content pipeline, and to invest in high ROI marketing and members benefit. Also, we will keep a close eye on industry opportunities powered by technical advancement, such as artificial intelligence, generated content, AIGC, and other innovative technologies.
We will explore AIGC application and scenarios. In the long term video industry, together with our strategic partner, Baidu, in the areas such as improving content, production efficiency, content distribution, and promotion. We believe the AIGC strategy will help iQIYI to unlock even more potential, further improve our overall business efficiency, and generate greater value. Now, let's go through the detailed performance of our business segments, starting with membership services. Membership services revenue was CNY 4.7 billion, the highest in our corporate history, representing a increase of 15% annually and 13% sequentially as we had a very strong quarter of blockbuster content. We utilized the opportunity to attract and grow our subscriber base with a marginal increase in ARPU. Our subscriber base had strong growth in Q4.
The average daily user of total subscribing member was 111.6 million, a net addition of 10.6 million compared with Q3. The total number of subscribing member was 919.7 million as of the end of December, a net addition of 13.5 million compared with the end of September. Very importantly, we are glad to see the improvement in membership structure, with the proportion of annual subscribers increasing significantly in Q4 compared to the same period last year. We believe the higher subscription rate for annual packages will help to improve signals and the long-term monetization. In Q4, our monthly ARPU was RMB 14.17, up 2% sequentially. We further increased our membership pricing in December, which will drive ARPU increase in the future. For our membership business, we are committed to grow revenue.
In the long term, we believe our ARPU will have plenty of room to grow when we continue to aggregate content quality and bring more value to our users. In the short term, we strategically choose to optimize the growth of subscriber base and the membership duration so that more people can enjoy our content and the relationship between the platform and the user becomes more enduring. A good example is that as the monthly ARPU of the annual package is lower than the monthly package, when we enroll more annual subscribers, our average ARPU might be impacted in the short term. We value the relationship with subscribers, and we believe the long-term trust we built with subscribers will bring more strategic value. In Q4, we continued to expand our inclusive membership benefit package, including exclusive IP-based souvenirs and a limited time discounted offers, exclusive fan events.
Moving on to content. In Q4, we continued to lead the market with dominant market share. According to Endata data, we remained number one in terms of effective video views for both overall dramas and exclusive dramas categories, reaching quarterly new highs in the past two years. For variety shows, we also ranked number one in terms of effective video views with launch of popular original programs, including Super Sketch Show S2, And Memory Player, And Folk 2022. 2022 was the hardest year for our dramas. We had most number of blockbusters that covered the worst scene and evenly released across the year. First, we launched five dramas with a Popularity Index of over 10,000 in a single year, while four of them are originals.
Not only we brought our content quality to the next level, we significantly improved our financial performance and generated profitability and large scale. Second, our company released its cover that was including Modern Sims, A Lifelong Journey, Ordinary Greatness, Wow! The Asian Custom Epics Love Between Fairy and Devil, 苍 兰 诀, and New Life Begins, 新 京 日 常. The suspenseful Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, 唐 朝 诡 事 录, and the fantasy and the youth exploration, The Heart of Genius, 天 才 基 本 法. Third, the timing of all releases was evenly throughout the year. The five blockbusters with Popularity Index of 10,000 were released at the beginning of year, during summer vacation, and during winter. Other high quality dramas were released at regular intervals during the year.
Users can turn to iQIYI and watch the most current hit shows at any time. We also maintain the best word of mouth in the industry. Among the top 10 highest rated Chinese dramas on Douban.com in 2022, seven were iQIYI exclusive dramas, and four were original productions. Our original title, Ordinary Greatness, and White Bloom, ranked first and third, respectively. As we move on to 2023, we will maintain our strong momentum and plan to launch a number of highly anticipated dramas. Original production, Unchained Love, 浮 图 缘, and The Knockout, were launched in Q1 and highly acclaimed by user. The Knockout become another megahit to nationwide phenomenon. Just to name a new highlight. First, it has the highest Popularity Index score, and it's the eighth drama that broke the Popularity Index of 10,000.
Second, generated huge social buzz and high word of mouth. Its peak Douban score was 9.1. Only very selected Chinese drama have such high scores. Third, the drama was broadcasted on the national TV network, including CCTV and BRTV, all of which had outstanding viewership. Just on CCTV network alone, The Knockout has been watched by over 300 million audience so far. During 2023, a variety of key dramas will be launched, such as Ancient Custom and Epics, The Demon Hunter's Romance, 无 忧 渡 , Story of Kunning Palace, 宁 安 如 梦 , Destined, 长 风 渡 , Fox Spirit Matchmaker, 狐妖小红娘.
Modern themed dramas such as Miles to Go, 人生之路, Take Us Home, 龙城, and We Are Criminal Police, 我是刑警, et cetera. Original variety shows, we will continue to launch multi-season shows and introduce new programs. We will focus on building franchise value and enhancing synergy between dramas and variety shows. Please also anticipate to see a slate of well-crafted original movies, children's content, and animation. Advertising business recovered sequentially in Q4. Total ad revenue were CNY 1.6 billion in Q4, up 25% sequentially and down 7% annually, which was significantly narrowed from the 25% annual decline in Q3, exceeding our expectations at the beginning of the quarter.
In particular for Q4, brand ads returned to double-digit sequential growth, and the year-over-year decline continues to narrow, better than our expectations. The sequential growth was benefited from, first, hit dramas and variety shows attract ad buyers. Second, the domestic reopening boosted advertising, advertisers' confidence, and increased ad demand. Third, growth in sectors such as internet services, communications and healthcare. Heading into 2023, we believe reopening will support economy recovery. We are positive about brand ads for the full year 2023, and expect to see healthy growth compared with 2022. For performance ads, we achieved a strong revenue growth both sequentially and annually, driven by algorithm optimization and tailored operational initiatives for advertising from e-commerce, internet services, and online game sectors. We believe that iQIYI's core user group is highly attractive for advertisers.
With our appealing content and advanced technology, we will be able to effectively help advertisers to increase their brand influence. In the future, we will adopt multiple strategies to improve our ads business. We will focus on growing our revenue scale and offer tailored campaigns on large screens. Meanwhile, we will continue to develop the ad-supported basic subscription package on iQIYI Lite, which is similar to Netflix's low-priced ad-supported initiative. We believe the solid growth in iQIYI Lite basic subscription package will drive ad inventory on our platform and lead to ad revenue growth. Moving on to technology and the products. Technical innovation is one of our core values. Our continuously promote video industrialization and improve efficiency in content production and distribution through innovative technologies.
We start to explore AIGC related opportunities since May, mid, 2022, and have seen promising results. We believe our rich video entertainment resources, combined with cutting-edge technologies, will empower iQIYI to further improve efficiency in content production, distribution, and other areas. On February 15th, we announced the strategy of cooperation with Baidu, and both companies will jointly explore the AIGC application scenario through Baidu's ERNIE Bot. We anticipate that content distribution and promotion are one of the earliest areas to be implemented, and this cooperation will further accelerate our progress in AIGC related areas. We look forward to implement more applications as we are stressing our technology advancement in the future. Moving on to new business. First, iQIYI Lite. In Q4, iQIYI Lite reached breakeven for the first time and recorded solid revenue growth both annually and sequentially.
We continued to develop monetization model of iQIYI Lite, and the new ad-supported basic subscription package was well received by users. Moving on to overseas business. In Q4, overseas membership revenue increased 30% year-over-year, and the growth rate in America and Canada exceeded 70%. Original content, especially original dramas, performed quite well. Our original Chinese drama, New Life Begins, achieved top rankings in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea only three days after its launch. We are also delighted that our original dramas released in Q4 attract advertising budgets. In 2022, we successfully completed an iconic turnaround with substantial improvement in financial performance, business operations, and market share. Meanwhile, our unique content production methodology helped us to produce a continuous stream of blockbusters, increasing our core barrier.
Our industry-leading original content production ability and superior operational capability are our core competitive strengths and the key to our rapid growth in the long term. As we move through 2023, we are committed to delivering high-quality growth. We firmly believe our best days are yet to come. We will further release the flywheel effects of our business and bring higher value to our users, partners, and stakeholders. Now, let me pass on to Jun to go through our financial performance.
Thanks, Mr. Gong, hello, everyone. Q4 was a record-setting quarter for our membership revenue, operating profits, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. The operating margin continues to expand driven by operating leverage. In addition, we raised around $1.3 billion over the past 12 months to remove the debt overhang. With operational and financial performances in great conditions and significant capital structure enhancement, the management will be able to focus on delivering high quality growth in the long run. I would also like to take this opportunity to review the overall performance for the year 2022 for iQIYI. First, we delivered what we promised earlier in the year.
We set a goal of reaching non-GAAP operating profit and operating breakeven for the full year of 2022 and ended up with non-GAAP operating profit of RMB 2.2 billion, far exceeding our expectation. We shifted our operational focus from cost down in Q1, Q2 to scale up in Q3 and Q4, and roll out our calm growth strategy in the middle of the year, which resulted a very healthy expansion of market share, membership services revenue and profit in the second half. The momentum continues beyond 31 December 2022. In addition, we also promised to protect the interests of all stakeholders and fix the immense challenge of debt overhang despite the extremely volatile market and w e made that as well.
Secondly, we humbly ask our investors to look beyond iQIYI's specific achievement and revalue the long form video industry as a whole. iQIYI continued to outperform to deliver alpha, but our eye for the entire industry was quickly recovering for the entire 2022 as well to deliver beta, driven by the structural change on the supply side. Less quantity, more quality. More concentrated supply of platform originated content leads to higher view ratio and more efficient cost control. On the demand side, as Mr. Gong mentioned, long form video remains the fundamental entertainment need for the mass market. Over time, the higher quality content naturally lead to the higher willingness to pay, hence the higher ARPU. We are in a virtuous cycle and will see a more promising future.
Thirdly, we would like to thank everyone who supported us in a very dramatic 2022, including our users, employees, content partners, our shareholders and supporter bondholders and creditors. Our commitment in achieving healthy business growth remains unchanged. We are more confident than ever in our ability to generate value for our stakeholders in the long run. For detailed financial data for Q4 and fiscal year 2022, please refer to our press release on our IR website. We will open the floor for Q&A.
Thank you. The first question is from Xueqing Zhang from CICC. Please go ahead.
I will translate myself. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations to a remarkable performance. We see that The Knockout came a mighty heat in January. How does management think about the overall content trend in the Q1 ? As you mentioned in the letter to investors, people view iQIYI as a blockbuster powerhouse. Can management share with us that how to make more and more original blockbusters in the future? Last, how should we think about the number of subscribing members in the longer term? Thank you.
First of all, the Q1 content was excellent. Exceeded our expectations. For the overall content performance, I will invite our CCO Xiaohui to answer the question. In regards to the membership business, we will invite our Senior Vice President Mr. Duan to answer the question.
嗯 ， 大 家 好 ， 我 是 王 晓 晖 。 呃 ， 首 先 呢 ， 呃 ， 我 们 还 是 对 我 们 iQ 平 台 持 续 产 出 爆 款 的 能 力 呢 ， 还 是 非 常 有 信 心 的 。 因 为 近 十 年 来 看 呢 ， 我 们 努 力 的 主 要 目 标 之 一 就 是 想 系 统 性 地 来 提 高 爆 款 的 成 功 率 。 呃 ， 纵 观 过 去 一 年 的 这 个 内 容 表 现 ， 无 论 是 上 线 的 《 苍 兰 诀 》、《 罚 罪 》、《 卿 卿 日 常 》、《 东 妃 半 夏 》、《 回 来 的 女 儿 》 还 是 最 近 的 《 狂 飙 》，
其 实 都 可 以 看 到 这 一 成 果 的 显 现 ， 就 是 iQ 爆 款 内 容 的 可 持 续 性 和 类 型 的 多 样 化 。
As a media platform, one of the main goals for iQIYI in the past 10 years is to systematically improve the success rate of creating blockbusters. Looking at the content performance in the past year, whether is the drama Love Between Fairy and Devil, Wild Bloom, New Life Begins, Chasing the Undercurrent, Homesick, or the recent The Knockout. We can see the continuity and diversity of iQIYI's blockbuster content.
嗯 ， 其 中 核 心 竞 争 力 第 一 呢 ， 是 人 才 。 呃 ， 我 们 通 过 建 立 的 多 ， 多 个 特 色 鲜 明 的 工 作 室 策 略 ， 聚 集 了 这 个 行 业 内 最 具 创 意 的 人 才 ， 这 些 人 才 也 符 合 创 意 行 业 个 性 化 的 创 作 特 点 。 同 时 我 们 还 建 立 了 强 大 的 中 台 ， 提 供 了 有 利 于 创 作 效 率 成 功 概 率 提 升 的 科 学 机 制 的 支 持 。
The first core competitiveness is talent. Under our in-house studio strategy, we have established a number of diverse and distinctive in-house studios, which gathered the most creative talents in this industry. These talents are also in line with the distinctive characteristics of the creative industry. At the same time, we have also established a strong supporting middle platform, which provides a sophisticated mechanism that is conducted to improving the efficiency in content production and increasing the probability of hit ratios.
第 二 是 系 统 。 我 们 建 立 了 一 个 复 杂 的 数 据 驱 动 的 高 效 决 策 的 影 视 制 片 管 理 系 统 ， 可 以 覆 盖 内 容 生 产 全 生 命 周 期 中 的 每 一 个 关 键 时 刻 。
The second is our internal development content management system. We have established a complex, data-driven and efficient decision-making content production management system, which covers every critical moment in the entire cycle of content production.
第 三 是 运 营. 我 们 形 成 了 一 个 强 大 的 内 容 运 营 能 力, 可 以 贯 穿 内 容 创 意 、 生 产 、 宣 传 、 排 播 等 各 个 环 节.
The third one is operation. We have formed a strong content operation capability, which runs through content creation, production, scheduling, promotion and et cetera.
第 四 是 智 能 技 术. 我 们 通 过 智 能 制 作 技 术 ， 有 效 提 升 了 制 作 效 率 和 节 约 成 本 ， 成 为 我 们 内 容 生 产 的 有 力 保 障.
The fourth is innovative and intelligent technology. We use intelligent production technology to effectively improve production efficiency and save costs, which provides strong guarantee for our content production.
第 五 是 洞 察 力 。 我 们 经 过 多 年 的 经 验 积 累 和 规 律 总 结 ， 在 内 容 创 作 规 律 和 中 国 娱 乐 消 费 市 场 审 美 的 精 准 把 握 方 面 具 备 了 相 对 明 显 的 优 势 。
The fifth is industry insight. After years of experiences in the industry, we have clear insights in terms of the content creation and accurate grasp of the appetite of the Chinese entertainment consumer market. These are definitely our core competitive advantages.
所 以 说 我 们 目 前 形 成 的 内 容 生 产 机 制 和 强 大 的 运 营 能 力, 能 够 保 证 我 们 未 来 会 有 稳 定 持 续 的 头 部 内 容 供 给. 谢 谢.
Our current content production mechanism and strong operational capability will guarantee us with a stable and continuous supply of top premium content in the future. Thank you.
呃 ， 大 家 好 ， 我 是 段 有 桥 。 我 们 对 会 员 的 长 期 增 长 充 满 信 心 。2022 年 ， 我 们 在 会 员 运 营 、 会 员 销 售 ， 还 有 用 户 规 模 等 方 面 不 断 地 积 累 ， 目 前 已 经 显 现 出 健 康 的 增 长 势 头 。 呃 ，2022 年 第 四 季 度 会 员 规 模 已 经 突 破 了 过 去 两 年 多 的 波 动 区 间 。 我 们 对 会 员 规 模 在 2023 年 的 持 续 增 长 充 满 乐 观 。
In 2022, we continued to develop our membership business operations, membership sales, and subscriber base that achieved healthy growth momentum. In 2022Q4, the subscriber base made a breakthrough of the fluctuating subscriber range of the past two years. We are optimistic that the subscriber base will continue to grow in 2023.
我 们 在 12 月 举 的 会 员 数 已 经 ， 接 近 1.2 亿 。 得 益 于 优 质 的 内 容 ， 我 们 开 年 后 的 会 员 增 长 持 续 维 持 在 高 位 ， 并 且 一 直 在 增 长 。
Our number of subscribers reached nearly 120 million by the end of December. Thanks to the high quality content, our subscriber base continued to maintain a high level and continued growth since the beginning of the year.
呃 ， 我 们 会 员 的 结 构 更 加 优 化 ， 呃 ， 年 卡 和 大 屏 会 员 的 增 长 良 好 ， 有 助 于 提 升 平 台 会 员 的 粘 性 和 长 期 变 现 能 力 。
The structure of our subscriber base is optimized. The annual membership package, and the large team subscribers are growing well, which will help improving the platform's membership stickiness and long-term monetization ability.
关 于 会 员 的 天 花 板, 长 期 来 看, 国 内 视 频 会 员 规 模 的 天 花 板 取 决 于 消 费 长 视 频 内 容 的 人 口 数, 家 庭 数 以 及 行 业 竞 争 的 格 局. 目 前 视 频 会 员 数 和 互 联 网 人 口 数 以 及 家 庭 数 相 比, 还 有 非 常 大 的 增 长 空 间.
In the long run, the ceiling of domestic subscriber base depends on the number of people consuming the long form video content, the number of families and the industry's competitive landscape. Currently, the number of subscribers still has a lot of room for growth compared with the number of Internet population and the number of families in China.
未 来 会 员 业 务 在 用 户 直 销 和 渠 道 销 售 这 两 个 市 场 呃 都 具 有 良 好 的 前 景 。 在 直 销 市 场 ， 呃 视 频 会 员 已 经 成 为 用 户 的 刚 需 。 在 渠 道 销 售 市 场 ， 视 频 会 员 也 已 经 成 为 电 信 运 营 商 、 互 联 网 服 务 、 金 融 等 合 作 伙 伴 最 青 睐 的 权 益 产 品 。
In the future, the membership business has good prospects in both direct to consumer sales and also channel sales markets. In the direct to consumer sales market, there's a fundamental demand for long form video membership in the mass entertainment market. In the channel sales market, video membership package has also become one of the preferred products favored by our partners in the telecommunication, Internet services and financial sectors.
呃 最 后 ， 我 们 相 信 随 着 爱 奇 艺 内 容 质 量 的 持 续 提 升 ， 毕 竟 也 会 带 来 会 员 付 费 意 愿 的 增 强 和 整 体 变 现 能 力 的 提 升 。 谢 谢 。
Last but not least, as our content quality continues to improve, it will definitely increase subscribers willingness to pay and the improvement of our monetization ability in the future. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Eddie Leung from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Please go ahead.
啊 Hi， 管 理 层 晚 上 好 ， 谢 谢 接 受 我 的 提 问 ， 然 后 恭 喜 非 常 强 劲 的 业 绩 ， 还 有 最 近 很 好 的 一 个 内 容 的 输 出 。 呃 我 的 问 题 其 实 是 关 于 长 视 频 行 业 的 ， 就 是 2022 年 我 们 看 到 大 多 数 的 玩 家 基 本 上 都 在 强 调 内 容 的 质 量 ， 然 后 在 降 本 增 效 ， 然 后 呃 不 知 道 呃 我 们 那 公 司 对 2023 年 或 未 来 的 话 ， 整 个 长 视 频 行 业 的 发 展 怎 么 看 ， 然 后 公 司 在 策 略 上 有 没 有 一 些 变 化 ？ 啊 谢 谢 。 啊 我 自 己 翻 译 一 下 吧 。Thanks management for taking my question, congrats on the strong results.
My question is mainly on online video industry. We notice that the major player have focusing on ROI and content quality in 2022. Wondering how should we see the industry development in the future? Thank you.
好 ， 谢 谢 。 我 来 回 答 这 个 问 题 吧 。 就 是 那 个 就 是 很 重 要 的 一 点 ， 现 在 行 业 已 经 达 成 形 成 一 个 共 识 ， 就 认 为 对 影 视 内 容 这 种 长 视 频 的 需 求 是 用 户 的 刚 性 需 求 。 对 比 前 几 年 ， 曾 经 有 一 段 时 间 行 业 内 的 部 分 的 这 个 从 业 者 开 始 怀 疑 这 个 ， 这 是 不 好 的 。 现 在 整 个 行 业 已 经 形 成 共 识 ， 相 信 这 个 影 视 内 容 ， 长 视 频 是 用 户 的 刚 性 需 求 ， 这 点 非 常 重 要 。
I think right now it's the industry's consensus that, we believe there's a fundamental demand for long-form video membership in the mass entertainment, market. Maybe a few years ago, there are some players who doubted, this, but I think right now everybody in this market reached a common, consensus on this.
嗯 呃 在 2021 年 年 底 的 时 候 ， 根 据 当 时 的 这 个 用 户 市 场 这 个 情 况 ， 还 有 金 融 市 场 情 况 ， 还 有 一 些 其 他 因 素 ， 我 们 判 断 我 们 这 个 行 业 呃 即 将 进 入 一 个 新 的 阶 段 ， 这 个 新 的 阶 段 就 是 竞 争 更 加 理 性 ， 竞 争 更 加 理 性 。 然 后 从 跑 马 圈 地 的 这 么 一 个 诉 求 变 成 呃 对 效 率 ， 啊 对 运 营 利 润 来 追 求 的 这 么 一 个 呃 阶 段 。 呃 然 后 从 内 容 角 度 来 讲 ， 数 量 不 是 排 第 一 位 的 ， 而 质 量 是 排 第 一 位 的 ， 因 为 质 量 通 常 意 味 着 效 率 ， 投 资 效 率 会 提 高 。 呃 事 实 证 明 ， 经 过 了 一 年 多 的 时 间 ， 这 个 判 断 是 正 确 的 。 呃 相 信 这 种 理 性 竞 争 阶 段 会 继 续 持 续 下 去 。
At the end of 2021, we think we were the first to foresee that there are changes in the online video market that will lead to a new stage of rational development for the entire industry. The focus of the long form video competition will shift from competing on content quantity to content quality, and more players will pursue the improvement in operational efficiency and profitability. Based on the past one year and more experience, we can witness that increasing quality of video content leads to higher ROI. I think, based on that, we think the results in 2022 also proves that our insight of this structural change of the industry is correct.
这 个 爱 奇 艺 的 内 容 自 制 能 力 在 提 高 ， 整 个 行 业 同 行 其 他 家 的 这 个 内 容 自 制 能 力 也 在 提 高 ， 这 种 自 制 能 力 的 提 高 会 引 起 一 些 变 化比 如 说 这 种 变 化 会 让 内 容 更 具 有 吸 引 力 ， 让 更 多 的 用 户 去 买 会 员 ， 吸 引 更 多 的 用 户 ， 而 且 更 多 的 用 户 去 转 化 成 会 员 ， 然 后 同 时 呢 ， 也 让 ， 也 可 能 会 让 用 户 买 多 个 会 员 ，
也 就 是 一 个 用 户 在 我 们 行 业 里 头 的 消 费 会 增 加 。 这 些 积 极 的 这 种 ， 就 是 这 种 变 化 都 是 由 于 ， 内 容 自 制 能 力 提 升 带 来 的 。
Our economic turnaround of the business performance last year, I think was attributable to the improvement in original content production. The same for the industry peers, I think there are more sufficient supply of content and also a higher hit ratios, and better efficient cost control. We think of the high quality content when is effectively leads to higher willingness to pay, which enables us to form a virtuous cycle for content production and monetization. We also believe eventually, there's the chances for one single users to subscribe to multiple membership packages among the video industry peers.
iQIYI 通 过 2022 年 特 殊 的 一 年 实 现 了 这 种 由 亏 损 到 盈 利 的 标 志 性 的 逆 转. 2023 年 iQIYI 的 策 略 将 是 高 质 量 增 长, 也 就 是 运 营 利 润 和 收 入 同 时 间 的 增 长. 这 样 会 让 整 个 行 业, 看 到, 这 种 商 业 模 式 是 可 以 实 现 高 质 量 增 长 的. 同 时 我 相 信 也 给 我 们 的 同 业 某 种 的, 压 力, 或 者 也 是 同 样 的 一 个 引 领 吧, 让 行 业 更 大 力 地 去 追 求 效 率, 提 高 整 个 行 业 的 投 资 效 率, 为 整 个 行 业 的 发 展 奠 定 基 础.
We believe we achieved our economic turnaround last year as we continue to lead industry. At the same time, our goal for next year is achieving high quality growth, meaning that we'll achieve quality growth in terms of revenue and also for profit as well. I understand that this brings some of the pressure for our peers in the industry, but I think as a leader industry, it's a good sign. Increasing ROI will also lead the entire industry to recover better ROI performance quickly and driven by the structural changes, as we mentioned earlier. I think this will eventually lead to a healthier industry, and eventually every player in the industry will benefit from it.
That's all. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Lincoln Kong from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
好，这个恭喜管理层取得这么好的一个业绩。我的问题呢，可能是关于 AIGC 这块，其实是想问一下，这个管理层认为在就 AIGC 在整体的这个视频领域，未来的应用，的想象空间在哪些方向？可不可以给我们具体展开说一说？另外，这个我们也看到公司最近跟 Baidu 也达成了一些战略合作，这块可能具体会在应用层面有哪些我们可以想的这些，落地的规划呢？My question is about AIGC, AI-generated content, especially the application in the video space. How to management think about the potential trend and the potential applications going forward in this space? Especially we also notice recently our company has reached a collaboration with Baidu. In that sense, I mean what aspects should we expect more concrete plans related to this collaboration?
I will invite our CTO Wenfeng to answer this question. Please go ahead.
大 家 好 ， 我 是 刘 文 丰 ， 呃 ， 我 来 回 答 这 个 问 题 。 爱 奇 艺 的 企 业 愿 景 是 做 一 家 以 科 技 创 新 为 驱 动 的 未 来 娱 乐 公 司 。 我 们 也 相 信 技 术 革 新 始 终 是 推 动 影 视 产 业 进 化 的 关 键 因 素 之 一 ， 所 以 我 们 也 一 直 在 人 工 智 能 、 云 计 算 、 音 视 频 技 术 等 技 术 领 域 里 面 不 断 投 入 ， 提 升 影 视 内 容 制 作 效 率 和 质 量 ， 同 时 也 提 升 用 户 体 验 。
Our iQIYI's core provision is to be a technology-based entertainment giant. We believe that technology innovation is also always one of the key factors to promote the evolution of the video industry. We have been investing in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, audio and video technology and others to improve the efficiency and quality of content production and enhance user experience.
呃 ，AIGC 是 利 用 AI 技 术 进 行 数 据 和 内 容 生 产 的 强 大 引 擎 。 利 用 AIGC 的 技 术 可 以 进 一 步 拓 展 爱 奇 艺 在 影 视 内 容 创 意 、 提 升 制 作 效 率 和 质 量 以 及 用 户 体 验 方 面 的 能 力 。 我 们 自 从 2022 年 中 就 已 经 开 始 探 索 AIGC 在 视 频 领 域 方 面 的 应 用 。
AIGC is a powerful engine for data processing and also content production using the AI technology. By applying the AIGC technology, it further expand iQIYI's capabilities in content creativity, improve content production efficiency and quality, and user experience. We have been exploring the application of AIGC in the video space since mid-2022.
比 如 说 有 如 下 这 些 应 用 方 向 ， 在 创 作 阶 段 ， 爱 奇 艺 智 能 制 作 系 统 未 来 呢 ， 可 以 利 用 AIGC 能 力 ， 在 剧 本 创 作 环 节 帮 助 影 视 从 业 者 既 能 够 进 一 步 激 活 创 意 ， 又 能 够 提 升 效 率 ， 降 低 成 本 。 在 制 作 阶 段 ， 爱 奇 艺 智 能 制 作 系 统 未 来 也 可 以 通 过 AIGC 高 效 拆 解 剧 本 和 提 取 大 纲 的 能 力 ， 对 剧 本 进 行 智 能 分 析 和 处 理 ， 不 仅 能 为 制 片 制 定 更 好 计 划 ，
还 能 为 拍 摄 、 后 期 以 及 营 销 发 行 提 供 更 多 有 价 值 的 信 息 ， 从 而 全 面 提 升 内 容 制 作 的 整 体 效 率 和 质 量 。
We have been exploring the following aspects. For the creative stage in the future, content creators can use iQIYI's intelligent production system during the scripting process. Not only that, it will trigger more creative inspiration, but it will also improve efficiency and reduce costs. In the production stage in the future, iQIYI's intelligent production system can intelligently analyze and process the script through the use of AIGC to efficiently analyze the script and extract the story elements. In addition, such technology not only can help the content producers in planning the project, but it could also provide more valuable information regarding filming process for post-production and marketing, improving the overall efficiency and quality of the video content production.
在 内 容 宣 发 方 面 呢 ， 通 过 AIGC 可 以 产 生 大 量 的 内 容 推 广 视 频 文 案 和 素 材 ， 从 而 提 升 内 容 宣 发 的 效 率 和 效 果 。 未 来 ， 影 视 二 创 的 作 者 还 能 利 用 AIGC 生 产 的 影 视 剧 脚 本 ， 解 说 脚 ， 呃 ， 解 说 脚 本 ， 提 升 二 创 内 容 的 创 作 效 率 和 质 量 。
这 样 可 以 极 大 丰 富 海 量 的 影 视 短 视 频 的 内 容 ， 从 而 吸 引 更 多 用 户 观 看 爱 奇 艺 的 影 视 作 品 ， 尤 其 对 海 量 的 优 质 片 库 内 容 的 宣 发 起 到 拉 动 作 用 ， 有 效 延 长 优 质 内 容 的 生 命 周 期 。
通 过 AIGC 还 能 为 影 片 生 产 更 多 不 同 的 封 面 图 ， 帮 助 内 容 找 到 用 户 ， 提 升 用 户 的 个 性 化 推 荐 体 验 。 另 外 ， 通 过 对 话 式 的 AI 能 力 ， 可 以 大 幅 提 升 视 频 搜 索 体 验 ， 比 如 实 现 剧 情 搜 索 、 剧 情 问 答 、 分 集 推 荐 等 等 ， 更 有 效 也 更 人 性 化 地 帮 助 用 户 找 到 内 容 。
In terms of content marketing and promotion, AIGC can produce a large number of marketing videos and marketing materials to improve the efficiency and effect of content marketing. In the future, content creators can also use AI to automatically generate video commentary scripts, further improve the efficiency and quality of video creation. This can greatly enrich short-form video content that promote our dramas, variety shows, films, etc., attracting more users to watch iQIYI's content. It will also especially benefit in promoting our extensive selection of library content, effectively extending the life cycle of these content. Also, AIGC can produce personalized poster images for any content, help content to find its audience, and the user will have improved content recommendation experience. The video search experience will also be improved.
Through the conversational AI capabilities, users can search a plot, find out the story of a particular scene or binge-watching recommendations, etc. helping the users, they can help the users to find content more effectively.
相 信 AI 技 术 ，AIGC 的 技 术 和 爱 奇 艺 丰 富 的 在 线 视 频 娱 乐 资 源 相 结 合 ， 可 以 进 一 步 推 动 影 视 行 业 的 发 展 ， 提 升 用 户 体 验 。 我 们 将 在 这 方 面 不 断 加 大 投 入 。 爱 奇 艺 已 经 和 百 度 在 2023年2月15日 宣 布 达 成 合 作 ， 爱 奇 艺 将 接 入 百 度 文 心 一 言 ， 双 方 将 共 同 探 索 将 AIGC 应 用 与 爱 奇 艺 在 内 容 创 作 工 具 、 内 容 宣 发 、 内 容 搜 索 、
小 说 创 作 等 业 务 ， 进 一 步 拓 展 爱 奇 艺 在 影 视 内 容 创 意 、 制 作 效 率 和 用 户 体 验 等 方 面 的 生 产 能 力 。 谢 谢 。
We believe that the combination of AIGC technology and iQIYI's rich online video entertainment resources can further promote the development of the video industry and improve user experience. We will continue to increase our investment in this area. On 15 February 2023, we announced a strategic cooperation with Baidu. Both companies will jointly explore the AIGC application scenarios through Baidu's ERNIE Bot in the areas such as content creation tools, content distribution and promotion, content search, novel creation, etc. We believe it will further expand iQIYI's production capability in content creativity, production efficiency, and user experience. Thank you.
Thank you. This is the last question for today. I'll now hand back to iQIYI management for closing remarks.
Thank you everyone for joining the call today. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have further questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye bye.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.