Questmobile report shows Doubao and DeepSeek lead chinese AI market in user engagement

QuestMobile's China Mobile Internet Autumn Report, released on November 3, indicates that the competition within China's AI application sector is maturing, shifting focus from merely acquiring users to driving high-frequency interactions and operational depth. The report suggests that applications featuring independent closed-loop services or system-level capabilities for end-to-end service delivery are gaining a competitive edge. Data from September 2026 revealed that Doubao and DeepSeek topped the charts for usage metrics. Doubao registered 72.0 average monthly uses per user, alongside 132.5 minutes of average monthly usage duration, while DeepSeek recorded 65.9 uses per user and 136.7 minutes of duration. Despite their leading positions, the quarterly trends diverged. Doubao experienced a decline, with its average monthly uses per user dropping by 6.1% and its usage duration falling by 7.8%. Conversely, DeepSeek demonstrated growth, seeing a 5.8% increase in average monthly uses per user and a 9.5% rise in usage duration. QuestMobile noted that sustained success in this deepening market will hinge on a product's ability to consistently meet user needs and increase interaction frequency.