TikTok, the high-flying short video app, is ending the year 2021 as the non-game app with the highest revenue, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data.
App stores experienced a boom in 2019 and 2020, following huge global spending on both mobile games and non-game apps. TikTok has been on top of the trends table as young people flock to the platform, getting paid for their contents. The app has more than one billion users.
The huge adoption saw TikTok downloads skyrocket, eclipsing other social media apps as the most downloaded on the App Store for 2021, racking up 745.9 million installs across both app stores. This is despite a dip of 24 percent year-over-year from 980.7 million installs in 2020, demonstrating the app’s global popularity even as it was removed from its top market India, according to Sensor Tower data.
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Besides downloads, TikTok has also surpassed YouTube for average watch time in US and UK. Sensor Tower said the app will stay on the top of the revenue chain.
“TikTok, including Douyin on iOS in China, will maintain its dominance at the top of the chart as the non-game app that saw the most revenue across both app stores combined. ByteDance’s short video platform passed $3 billion in lifetime revenue earlier this year—in the first 11 months of 2021, the app saw $2 billion in revenue, up 67 percent Y/Y from $1.2 billion. By the end of the year, Sensor Tower forecasts that the app will see $2.3 billion in spending, bringing its lifetime total to $3.8 billion,” it said.
Generally, TikTok’s revenue growth was buoyed by the boom in adoption and spending for both mobile games and non-game apps in 2020, market trends began normalizing in 2021 as worldwide consumer spending is projected to reach approximately $133 billion on in-app purchases, premium apps, and subscriptions across the App Store and Google Play, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data.
This represents 19.7 percent year-over-year growth from $111.1 billion in 2020, nearly mirroring the 21 percent Y/Y growth consumer spending experienced in 2019. Global consumer spending in non-game apps grew 19.7 percent to $133 billion in 2021.
While TikTok leads the pack, other apps also show incredible numbers in downloads and revenue. On Google Play, Facebook tops the charts with about 500.9 million installs on that marketplace alone. Across both marketplaces, the app will see about 624.9 million installs, down 12 percent Y/Y from 707.8 million, Sensor Tower said.
App stores, downloads and revenue
However, when it comes revenue, the app stores have had it differently in 2020 and 2021. Sensor Tower forecasts a drop in downloads for Apple’s App Store and increase for Google’s Play Store.
“First-time installs remain relatively flat when compared to 2020, growing 0.5 percent Y/Y across the App Store and Google Play to 143.6 billion in 2021 from 142.9 billion 2020. This is driven mainly by app adoption on Google Play, which will see installs climb 2.6 percent Y/Y to 111.3 billion from 108.5 billion; Apple’s marketplace will generate about 32.3 billion installs this year, down 6.1 percent from 34.4 billion,” it said, adding that worldwide app downloads grew 0.5 percent year-over-year to 143.6 billion in 2021.
App Store revenue is expected to increase by 17%, while Play Store will climb more than 23%.
Globally, consumer spending on the App Store will reach $85.1 billion, up 17.7 percent Y/Y from $72.3 billion in 2020. Although users have spent less on Google Play, that platform will see more Y/Y growth, climbing 23.5 percent to $47.9 billion from $38.8 billion. The two platforms’ spending relative to each other remains the same as in 2020, with the App Store seeing about 1.8 times the revenue as Google’s marketplace, Sensor Tower said.
The firm projects that Google One, which has amassed more revenue in 2021, will reach $1 billion in consumer spending, up 123% year-over-year from $448.5 million last year.