Internet products don't usually last for a long period of time. In short, they just come and go like that of microvideo platform Vine, which became known because of its 6 seconds of footage per video. Twitter bought the startup for $30 million in 2012 and released it immediately in October of the same year, and in October 2016 announced it would be closing Vine soon. However, it seems that Vine may survive after all.
Twitter is currently discussing with different companies offering to buy Vine, and hopes to close a deal soon. After announcing that it will shut down Vine last month, Twitter obtained a huge number of bids, including several from Asia. It's now working to decide on who should run the short-form video app.
According to TechCrunch, a rumored bidder was Japanese messaging and gaming company LINE. They added that Twitter has narrowed the pool from more than ten bidders to around five.
On October 27, Twitter made a statement that it will eventually shut down Vine, but keep the archive of Vines playable to permit users to download their content. Aside from clarifying some of the original announcement in an FAQ, it hasn't made any further announcements about the future of Vine, which kind of makes sense because it's still in active talks to sell the app.
A particular source says that at least some of the offers are for less than $10 million, implying that Twitter might not generate significant revenue directly from selling Vine. However, Vine could still benefit from Twitter even if it's owned by another company. Brands who pay creators to promote their products in Vines might also buy ads on Twitter to show those Vines to more users.
CNET adds that Twitter's announcement that it was killing Vine came after its third-quarter earnings call, in which the company announced it was laying off 9 percent of its workforce, or 350 jobs.
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