On August 12, iQIYI released its financial report for the second quarter of 2021. Total revenue for the second quarter reached 7.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3%, with this quarter’s total revenue approaching the high end of the company’s guidance. This quarter, iQIYI saw a net increase of approximately 900,000 members, bringing the total number of subscribers to 106.2 million; membership service revenue was 4 billion yuan, flat compared to the same period last year. This is iQIYI's second quarterly earnings report after adjusting membership prices. The data from Q1 and Q2 show that the slight adjustment in subscription pricing did not dampen users' willingness to pay for video services. For video platforms, the ability to continuously attract user subscriptions still depends on their capacity to provide high-quality content.
 
"The performance in the second quarter was largely in line with our expectations," said Gong Yu, CEO of iQIYI. "Although the second quarter is traditionally a slow season, our subscriber base grew to 106.2 million, driven by popular original series launched during the quarter. iQIYI continues to lead the market across various operational metrics. At the same time, we are encouraged by the positive momentum shown by iQIYI Lite, targeting users in China’s lower-tier cities, as well as our overseas business. We are still in the early stages of industrializing the film and TV industry, and we are making ongoing efforts to drive industry development for long-term growth. Relying on our deep understanding of users, highly innovative internal studios, and leading technology, we believe we are well-positioned to address current challenges and seize future opportunities."