Duolingo’s shares jumped by 7% on Thursday, driven by a significant increase in users learning Mandarin. This surge coincides with the rising popularity of RedNote, a Chinese social media app that is quickly becoming a competitor to TikTok.
Mandarin Learners See Major Growth
According to Duolingo, there has been a 216% increase in users learning Mandarin compared to last year. For comparison, Spanish, one of the most popular languages on the platform, saw a 40% growth during the same period. This sharp increase in Mandarin learners highlights the app’s expanding global reach and the growing interest in learning Chinese.
RedNote’s Explosive Growth
RedNote (Xiaohongshu), a social media app from China, has shot to the top of the Apple App Store’s free app chart. It has surpassed major competitors like TikTok’s Lemon8, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Meta’s Threads. This surge is partly due to the legal uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future in the U.S., with the Supreme Court hearing arguments about a potential TikTok ban.
Impact of TikTok’s Potential Ban
If TikTok is banned in the U.S., RedNote is expected to benefit significantly as many American users look for alternatives. Sensor Tower reports that RedNote’s U.S. downloads have increased by 20 times over the past week. Duolingo’s spokesperson confirmed the company’s proactive marketing efforts on RedNote, managed by their team in China.
Duolingo’s Global Language Courses
Duolingo offers courses in 42 languages, with Spanish being the most popular, followed by French. Mandarin ranks as the eighth most popular language, with 10.7 million users. The platform has 48.8 million Spanish learners and 27.3 million French learners, showing the diversity of language preferences on Duolingo.
Duolingo’s Strong Market Performance
In 2024, Duolingo saw its stock rise by 43%, outperforming the Nasdaq’s 29% gain. This growth is driven by increasing user numbers and expanding language course offerings, positioning Duolingo as a leader in the language learning space.
