Match Group Announces VR Dating Feature and Hyperconnect ‘Headwind’ in Q3 Results
Match Group published its financial report for the third quarter, which included a 25% year-on-year revenue increase to $802 million.
However, it fell short on its net profits per share, which came in at 43 cents compared to estimates of 55 cents. The outlook for the fourth quarter was also met with some disappointment, as Match Group’s expectations of $810 million to $820 million is lower than the average analyst estimate of $838.5 million.
Asia’s slower COVID-19 recovery is one of the contributing factors to these lower numbers, especially in Japan, the company’s second largest revenue driver.
Hyperconnect is also seeing significant issues that aren’t related to pandemic. Match Group completed its $1.725 billion acquisition of the dating and livestreaming giant in June to improve its footprint in Asia. Azar, Hyperconnect’s biggest subsidiary, is facing marketing performance problems and delays on new product updates.
Match Group is reexamining the roadmap for Hyperconnect and has lowered its revenue expectations for Q4 as a result.
On a more positive note, a feature called ‘Single Town’ has begun testing well on college campuses across Seoul, South Korea. This is a brand new virtual reality dating experience that lets singles move around different virtual locations and interact with other avatars in large groups or for one-to-one connections.
The letter to shareholders explained: “This experience is still in its early stages but it could become a standalone app and could also inspire an enhanced experience to discover and meet people that we leverage across our portfolio.
“This new experience provides a glimpse into how metaverse experiences could be applicable to dating and it is the sort of innovation that will help us evolve our portfolio as we enter the next phase of dating.”
Tinder had the biggest growth period in its history, adding 800,000 new paying users in the quarter and over 1.6 million in the past 12 months. Its brand new ‘Explore’ hub is reportedly seeing strong early traction and the second series of ‘Swipe Night’ is set to air on Sunday, 7th November.
Hinge is continuing on a strong upward trajectory by more than doubling its revenue since Q3 2020. There are currently plans in place to roll out Hinge to non-English speaking markets throughout the next year.
CEO Shar Dubey and COO/CFO Gary Swidler were unable to comment on the Tinder founders lawsuit as it is an active litigation. However, they did express how pleased they were at the steps being taken to reduce Apple and Google’s power over the app market.
Match Group is on course to pay more than $550 million in app store fees during 2021.
Read the full results here.
