TikTok Successfully Annexed 1 Billion Monthly Active Users

JAKARTA - TikTok revealed that it has reached 1 billion monthly users. This is an incredible number for a platform that was just launched in August 2018.

In its travels, TikTok has often received special attention from governments including the United States, which are concerned about the data collection practices of its parent company, China-based ByteDance.

According to app analytics firm SensorTower, TikTok's popularity soared during the pandemic, becoming the most downloaded app in the world in the first quarter of 2020, with around 315 million downloads in that quarter alone.

ByteDance reportedly saw 2020 revenue more than double from the previous year to USD 34.3 billion. Since its launch to date, SensorTower says TikTok downloads have reached USD 3.2 billion, including the calculation of its Chinese version, Douyin.

Average monthly TikTok users in August were up 25 percent from August 2020. As of June this year, ByteDance was worth USD 425 billion. Seeing the success of TikTok, other apps are also creating their own short video products.

For example, Facebook-owned Instagram launched Reels last August, Snapchat introduced its in-app TikTok clone Spotlight in November, and even video giant YouTube got into the short-duration video game, with YouTube Shorts in the US earlier this year.

However, TikTok continues to thrive. A report earlier this month found TikTok users spend more time watching its content than YouTube users.

For information, TikTok's largest market is in the United States (US), Europe, Brazil, and Southeast Asia, although its parent company ByteDance is headquartered in China.

Of course, TikTok has faced severe regulatory threats in recent years. Former President Donald Trump is trying to block US business dealings with TikTok and in India. TikTok has been banned since last year.