What’s new: Video-sharing platform TikTok has generated $10 billion in users’ spending, becoming the first non-gaming app to hit the milestone, according to market data provider data.ai.
The seven-year-old infotech brand is on track to see its revenue reach $14.6 billion in 2024, making it the highest earning mobile app ever, said a report by data.ai released Monday.
“Consumers are spending more than $11 million a day tipping their favorite content creators, propelling TikTok past the world’s most lucrative mobile game to date,” Lexi Sydow, head of insights at data.ai, said.
The only other apps to reach the milestone are all games — Candy Crush Saga owned by Activision Blizzard, Honor of Kings published by Tencent, Monster Strike from Mixi and Supercell’s Clash of Clans, according to the report.
Online dating app Tinder and video platform YouTube are also approaching the $10 billion landmark in consumer spending.
The context: With more than 1 billion monthly active users globally, ByteDance-backed TikTok took little more than a year to see its users’ spending doubled from $5 billion to $10 billion, according to the report.
The calculation of users’ spending comes from TikTok’s in-app purchases of virtual coins, which can be used to tip influencers and content creators. The figure included in-app purchases on TikTok’s Chinese sibling Douyin.
Besides in-app spending, TikTok has other revenue streams including advertising and e-commerce. Sources close to parent ByteDance told Caixin that TikTok’s 2023 advertising revenues are expected to reach $14 billion.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
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