(Yicai Global) July 6 -- Tencent Holdings will close down its audio platform Penguin FM in September, the 10th marginal product line the Chinese social media giant has brought the shutters down on since last year.

Penguin FM said yesterday that it had immediately closed to new user registrations and its recharge functions will discontinue on Sept. 6 in a move it described as a “business adjustment.”

Tencent also has shut down game-oriented livestreamer Penguin Esports, online map service Sogou Map, and video blog platform Vue Vlog since the Shenzhen-based firm embraced a strategy to optimize costs and enhance operational efficiency in 2022.

Tencent owns the giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group and is a strategic investor of Ximalaya, so the end of Penguin FM, which has only a few million users, was only a matter of time.

Penguin FM failed to rank among first-tier audio apps in the past eight years, and product copyrights have become increasingly costly, industry insiders said, adding that even leading competitor Ximalaya had to lay off workers to cope with losses.

Online audio apps providing audiobook, podcast, and radio services had 690 million users last year, according to a report by consulting agency Selection Data.

First-tier app Ximalaya was the most used, with 140 million monthly active users, followed by second-tier sites Lazyaudio, Novel FM, Dragonfly FM, and Lychee FM, with about 12 million MAUs each. EtherealSound, Kaishu Story, Kuwo Tingshu, and Penguin FM are in the third tier, with at least 1 million MAUs each.

Editor: Futura Costaglione