BEIJING, July 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, Inc.
(NASDAQ: IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company"), an innovative
market-leading online entertainment service in China, is pleased to announce that it has
bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of three new
country managers who will oversee the Company's ambitious strategic
growth plan in Southeast Asia. The
Company has appointed Sherwin Dela
Cruz as Country Manager of Philippines; Dinesh
Ratnam as Country Manager of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei; and Steven
Zhang as Country Manager of Indonesia. They will be responsible for the
localization and development of iQIYI's business in these key
Southeast Asian markets.
![iQIYI appoints Sherwin Dela Cruz as Country Manager of Philippines iQIYI appoints Sherwin Dela Cruz as Country Manager of Philippines](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1216670/Cruz.jpg)
Dela Cruz joins iQIYI from iflix
Philippines, where, as its
co-founder and Country Manager, he built the Southeast Asia's streaming media platform's
Filipino business from the ground up, overseeing its overall
operations and development in the local market. Prior to iflix,
Sherwin held a stint at IBM and went on to become a founder in a
number of technology startups.
Dinesh joins iQIYI from iflix where he served as its Malaysia
Country Manager and oversaw growth and overall development of the
local business. Prior to iflix, Dinesh was a Director in the CEO's
Office of Catcha Group overseeing the Group's tech and media
investments in Southeast Asia.
Prior to that, Dinesh was an investment banker with JPMorgan Chase
& Co in London and
San Francisco.
Zhang joins iQIYI from his role as Indonesia Country Manager of
Joyy Inc, a global livestreaming platform. Prior to this, he held a
variety of roles during his thirteen years at Huawei.
The addition of these three highly credentialed executives will
help iQIYI enhance its integration with local markets and ramp up
the localization of its services for Southeast Asia audiences.
Yang Xianghua, President of Membership and Overseas Business
Group of iQIYI, said that the three executives who are well versed
in entertainment and technology industries as well as local market
insights will help boost the Company's presence in Southeast Asia.
"How to provide cultural products favoured by local audiences is
an obstacle we need to tackle while also understanding and adapting
to the local market. These great additions to our team will
strengthen our innovation and help us connect with more local
partners with their wealth of market development expertise in the
region, accelerating our expansion into Southeast Asia as part of our goal to deliver
our high-quality and diversified video content to a wider
international audience."
In November 2019, five months
after the launch of the international version of the iQIYI App, the
Company officially commenced its overseas expansion via a strategic
partnership with Astro, a leading media brand in Malaysia. Within the first year of global
expansion, iQIYI's overseas team has attracted a vast array of
leading executives from global companies including the BBC, CJ
Entertainment, iflix, LINE TV, Netflix
and Sony.
iQIYI's original content has quickly become a hit in
Southeast Asia and captured the
attention of local audiences, including FOURTRY, Sword Dynasty, The
Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, My Roommate is a Detective,
The Eight, etc. Besides, the Company recently simultaneously
released its hit variety show Youth With You Season 2 in
Chinese, English and Thai on the night when the idol team was
selected, effectively breaking down cultural and language barriers
in the production and viewing process. By the end of opening week,
the number of users for the international version of the iQIYI App
had increased by 125% week on week. During its run, hashtags
related to Youth With You 2 appeared over 400 times as a
trending topic on Twitter in 15 countries and regions in
Asia, Europe, South
America and North America,
marking the popularization of Asian content in global markets.
About iQIYI, Inc.
iQIYI, Inc. is an innovative market-leading online entertainment
service in China. Its corporate
DNA combines creative talent with technology, fostering an
environment for continuous innovation and the production of
blockbuster content. iQIYI's platform features highly popular
original content, as well as a comprehensive library of other
professionally-produced content, partner-generated content and user
generated content. The Company distinguishes itself in the online
entertainment industry by its leading technology platform powered
by advanced AI, big data analytics and other core proprietary
technologies. iQIYI attracts a massive user base with tremendous
user engagement, and has developed a diversified monetization model
including membership services, online advertising services, content
distribution, live broadcasting, online games, IP licensing, online
literature and e-commerce.
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SOURCE iQIYI, Inc.