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STORE INTELLIGENCE · CRAIG CHAPPLE · APRIL 2020

TikTok Crosses 2 Billion Downloads After Best Quarter For Any App Ever

ByteDance’s popular social video app picked up 500 million users in five months, Sensor Tower data shows.

TikTok One Billion Downloads

Social video app TikTok from ByteDance has been downloaded more than 2 billion times globally on the App Store and Google Play, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates.

The latest milestone comes just five months after TikTok surpassed 1.5 billion downloads. In Q1 2020, it generated the most downloads for any app ever in a quarter, accumulating more than 315 million installs across the App Store and Google Play.

While the app was already popular and backed by a large user acquisition campaign, TikTok’s latest surge comes amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen consumers drawn to their mobile devices more than ever as they look for new ways to shop, work, and connect with others.

Global TikTok Downloads by Quarter

India has been the biggest driver of TikTok installs, generating 611 million lifetime downloads to date, or 30.3 percent of the total. China is the No. 2 country for installs, accumulating 196.6 million to date, or 9.7 percent of all downloads, for its version of the app, known as Douyin. This figure does not include third-party Android store installs in the country. The United States rounds out the top three countries for downloads, where it has picked up 165 million installs, or 8.2 percent.

Google Play has accounted for the vast majority of TikTok downloads to date, racking up more than 1.5 billion installs, or 75.5 percent of the total. The App Store, meanwhile, has generated 495.2 million downloads, or 24.5 percent.

User Spending Sees Exponential Growth

Lifetime user spending in TikTok has risen to $456.7 million, more than 2.5 times the $175 million the app had generated when it reached 1.5 billion downloads.

China is the clear leader for using spending in TikTok, generating $331 million, or 72.3 percent of total revenue. The U.S. ranked No. 2, with users spending $86.5 million, or 19 percent, while Great Britain ranked No. 3, accumulating $9 million in revenue, or 2 percent.

The App Store accounted for most of the revenue, accumulating $435.3 million from user spending. Google Play, meanwhile, generated $21.4 million in revenue.

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.


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Craig Chapple

Written by: Craig Chapple, Mobile Insights Strategist, EMEA

Date: April 2020