Phoenix New Media

What Phoenix New Media does

Phoenix New Media Limited is a Beijing-headquartered Chinese-language digital media company that operates the ifeng.com (凤凰网) portal, a multi-vertical news and content platform serving mainstream Chinese internet users both domestically and in international markets including Macau, the Middle East, and North America. Founded in 1996 as part of the Phoenix Television (凤凰卫视) group, the company went public on NASDAQ in 2011 under ticker FENG and maintains 1,001-5,000 employees. Its platform spans more than a dozen content verticals — news, finance, technology, entertainment, fashion, military, sports, government affairs, automotive, real estate, and video — supported by sub-products including an e-commerce channel (凰家尚品), an online fiction platform (小说频道), a live-streaming service (风直播), and a cultural-tourism content channel (美好中国), with 18+ regional editions across Chinese provinces and municipalities.

The company generates revenue through two primary streams: digital advertising on the ifeng.com portal and mobile applications, and a growing paid services segment that includes subscription and transactional offerings. In Q4 2025, the company reported total revenues of RMB 222.3M (up 1.9% YoY), net income of RMB 45.3M (a turnaround from a RMB 3.6M loss in the prior-year period), gross margin of 55.6% (up from 44.5%), and paid services revenue of RMB 41.2M (up 41.6% YoY). Operating income grew 265.7% to RMB 24.5M, reflecting significant operating leverage. The Q1 2026 revenue forecast of RMB 160-175M indicates management expectations of continued momentum following the profitability turnaround, though at a typical sequential moderation.

The company's go-to-market is sales-led, monetizing audience attention through advertisers on its owned-and-operated properties, with content production and editorial operations centralized in Beijing. Strategic priorities signaled through 2025-2026 activity include diversifying the revenue mix toward paid services, expanding into cultural-tourism and regional content verticals (notably the April 2026 partnership with Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon for the Reading Collaboration Conference), and leveraging affiliation with Phoenix Television for cross-platform content distribution. There is no disclosed evidence of proprietary AI/ML capabilities despite leadership commentary on AI-era media innovation.

Name

Phoenix New Media

Legal name

Phoenix New Media Limited

Website

https://ifeng.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Phoenix New Media operates the ifeng.com (凤凰网) Chinese-language digital media platform, delivering news, video, and vertical content to mainstream Chinese internet users across 20+ regional editions in China and abroad. The company monetizes primarily through digital advertising and a growing paid services segment, and is publicly traded on NASDAQ under ticker FENG.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital News Media

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

News & Politics Live Streaming Platforms (MPACACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Virtual Event Platforms & Production Services (Streaming, Engagement, Moderation) (MPAGAOAO)

Keywords

• Digital news media
• Online content platform
• Video streaming
• Mobile news apps
• Advertising services

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Content Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Primary revenue stream from digital advertising on ifeng.com platform and mobile applications
2. Paid Services: Growing paid services segment that increased 41.6% year-over-year in Q4 2025 to RMB 41.2 million

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Phoenix New Media operates ifeng.com (凤凰网), a leading Chinese online news and content platform delivering news, finance, technology, entertainment, fashion, military, sports, and video content to mainstream Chinese internet users. The company distributes content through its flagship web portal, mobile applications, and sub-products including e-commerce, fiction reading, live streaming, and cultural tourism verticals, with revenue primarily from advertising and a growing paid services segment.

Product overview

Phoenix New Media operates 凤凰网 (ifeng.com) as its core unified news portal platform, offering comprehensive news and content services across multiple specialized channels. The platform includes core offerings like the main news portal, supplemented by sub-products such as 凰家尚品 (e-commerce), 凤凰卫视 (television content), 小说频道 (fiction reading), 风直播 (live streaming), and 美好中国 (cultural tourism content). The ecosystem also features vertical content channels covering finance, technology, entertainment, fashion, military, sports, government affairs, automotive, and real estate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 凰家尚品: E-commerce/mall section of Phoenix New Media offering various products
• 风直播 (Feng Live)
• 凤凰卫视
• 风暴眼
• 凰家看台

Products and services

• ifeng.com (凤凰网) News Portal Phoenix New Media's flagship news portal website providing comprehensive news coverage across multiple channels including news, finance, technology, entertainment, fashion, military, sports, government affairs, automotive, real estate, and video content. It serves mainstream Chinese internet users across desktop and mobile platforms.
• 凰家尚品 (Houjia Shangpin) E-commerce Platform E-commerce platform under Phoenix New Media offering lifestyle and shopping products to consumers, integrated with the media platform.
• 凤凰卫视 (Phoenix Television) Content Platform Phoenix Television network content platform featuring news programs, interviews, and documentaries, distributed through the ifeng.com digital ecosystem.
• 小说频道 (Fiction Channel) Online fiction/novel platform offering reading services with various literary works to Chinese readers.
• 风直播 (Feng Live) Live Streaming Live streaming platform for news events and content broadcasts under the Phoenix New Media ecosystem.
• 美好中国 (Beautiful China) Cultural Tourism Channel Content channel focusing on cultural tourism and regional features across China, part of the ifeng.com vertical content offerings.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon (张家界大峡谷)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 April 2026Phoenix New Media partnered with Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon to co-host the 2026 Zhangjiajie Reading Collaboration Conference and Chinese National Studies Grand Ceremony. The partnership aims to integrate reading, cultural heritage, international exchange, and immersive experiences to create an engaging national reading tourism scene.
• Phoenix TV (凤凰卫视)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhoenix New Media is affiliated with Phoenix Television, providing cross-platform media content including Phoenix TV programming integration on ifeng.com

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sohu.com: Sohu operates Sohu.com, a long-standing Chinese online news and content portal, plus Sohu Video and Changyou games. It directly competes with ifeng.com in news, video, and advertising monetization for mainstream Chinese internet users.
• Sina Corporation: Sina is one of the original Chinese online news portal companies (Sina.com) and also the parent of Weibo, making it a direct competitor in Chinese-language news and content distribution with a similar advertising-led revenue model and US-listed status.

Broad incumbents

• Baidu: Baidu is China's dominant search engine and operates Baidu News, Baidu Feed, and video products. It competes with PNM for news traffic and digital ad spend, and overlaps in AI-driven content recommendation.
• NetEase: NetEase is a major Chinese internet and digital content company spanning news, video, music, gaming, and education. It overlaps with PNM in news aggregation, video, and content verticals but is far larger and more diversified.
• ByteDance: ByteDance operates Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua Video, the dominant AI-driven Chinese news and short-video platforms. It competes directly with PNM for user attention and ad budgets in news and video, though it is private and vastly larger.
• Tencent Holdings: Tencent operates WeChat and Tencent News, dominating Chinese-language content distribution and digital advertising. It is a broad incumbent in the same digital media and content space as PNM, though at vastly greater scale.

Emerging players

• Bilibili: Bilibili is a US-listed Chinese video and content community platform. It overlaps with PNM in video content distribution, monetization of user-generated content, and serving younger Chinese internet users, with a different primary format but similar audience overlap.
• Caixin Global / Caixin Media: Caixin is a leading Chinese financial and business news outlet with a digital platform. It overlaps with PNM's financial news vertical (finance.ifeng.com) and represents a higher-end, subscription-friendly content model in adjacent Chinese digital media.
• 36Kr: 36Kr is a Chinese digital media platform focused on technology, startups, and business news. It overlaps with PNM's technology and finance content verticals and competes for similar mainstream Chinese internet readers and advertisers.
• iQIYI: iQIYI is a major Chinese long-form video streaming service. It overlaps with PNM's video and live-streaming product (风直播) in online video distribution to Chinese consumers, but specializes in subscription-driven video rather than news.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xweibo.com/phoenixnewmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/151898988211015
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phoenix-new-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Phoenix New Media