ByteDance’s short video platform Douyin and its international version TikTok have reached an estimated gross revenue of USD 11.7 million (over RMB 82 million) this July, 290% up from USD 3 million year-on-year, as reported by market data intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
The figure refers to earnings made by users through in-app purchases (IAP). The data includes both Chinese and overseas users.
Most sales primarily come from users in China whose purchases account for almost 70% of the total revenue, or USD 8.2 million (RMB 57.7 million). Chinese users continue to be the driving force for TikTok/Douyin revenue. IAPs in China grew more than 271% since January, according to the data by Sensor Tower.
In comparison, users in the US have contributed considerably fewer sales, accounting for over 20% or USD 2.3 million, up 42% from USD 1.7 million YoY. Countries outside of the US and China only had minimal contribution to total revenue.
Overall, spending in the app has been keeping its growth momentum in the past year, increasing by over 8% compared to the USD 10.8 million it earned last month.
Users can buy TikTok’s virtual currency for in-app purchases, Coins, using real money, priced at 99 cents to USD 99.99. Coins are then used to purchase items, such as Emojis and virtual gifts to send to live-streamers who can exchange them for real money.
However, the app’s install base is no longer growing as rapidly as before. First-time downloads of the app (excluding from third-party Android stores) saw a 54% decrease YoY, reaching 54 million in July worldwide. Last month it added 5.4 million downloads in China, 1 million less than in the same month last year. In the US, TikTok added 11% more users YoY reaching 3 million last month.
TikTok and Douyin have reached a total of over 1.2 billion downloads to date.
