“I can see why they would be reluctant to cut the Americans off. “ ...”Once they spin it off, the original app will lose 50% of the value.”
Yes, once it goes dark in the U.S. it loses market (customers) outside the U.S. as well, as some foreign TikToc account holders depend on U.S users and ads U.S. users. The market customer share for TikTok will start dropping globally, the market value for TikTok starts dropping and for its 60% shareholders its either get Xi to make a deal or abandon their equity in TikTok. The possible U.S. buyers are by then already losing interest as well, as their valuation of TikTok is “as is”, not as it will be after/if it goes dark in the U.S.
It won't have the algorithm.
It'll only work in the U.S., so if you have global customers, you won't be able to reach them.
TikTok competitor is going to have global reach. At least until we decide to ban it.