Social networking app TikTok has topped two billion downloads across both iOS and Android, just five months after it announced it had hit 1.5 billion downloads.
The viral video app has attracted attention from some of the world’s biggest celebrities in recent months and has widely been seen as a spiritual successor to Twitter’s Vine app, offering looping videos designed for short-form content.
The success of the app has also skyrocketed in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as many consumers are now at home and are experimenting with new apps to fill their time and keep in touch with their friends and family.
Speaking of the news, Sensor Tower said: “While TikTok was on the ascent before 2020, the app has hit new levels of popularity so far this year.
“Its record-breaking Q1 came during a global pandemic, leading in part to an increase in downloads, engagement, and revenue.
“The continuous rise of TikTok gives it an ever-bigger foundation to not only enjoy success for the short-term, but build for the long-term to keep competitors — both existing and emerging — at bay.”
Although the two billion downloads were spread across Android and iOS, it’s the latter that offers the app more revenue opportunities. Apple users helped TikTok generate an eye-watering $435.3 million from in-app spending, compared with $21.4 million on Android. That’s in addition to advertising revenue from both platforms.
As expected, the Chinese-owned application is more popular in its home state, where the app is known as Douyin and runs under its own ecosystem that’s cut off from the Western version of the service.
“China is the clear leader for using spending in TikTok, generating $331 million, or 72.3% of total revenue,” the report said. “The U.S. ranked No. 2, with users spending $86.5 million, or 19%, while Great Britain ranked No. 3, accumulating $9 million in revenue, or 2%.”
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