As of November 2019, video app TikTok has clocked up over 1.5 billion installs across Google Play and Apple's App Store.
The app, which launched in 2017, was the fourth most downloaded non-gaming app across the world in 2018 after racking up 655.8 million downloads.
In 2019, Tiktok has accumulated a further 614 million downloads as of November according to data provided by Sensor Tower. It is currently the third most-downloaded nongaming app globally, surpassed only by WhatsApp and Messenger.
Geographically, India has been the driving force behind the majority of TikTok installs during 2018 and 2019. Around 31 per cent of all downloads across the two stores came from the country in 2018, followed by China which accounted for a much lower 11.5 per cent.
Big money
It isn't just hefty install numbers that TikTok is racking up. The app has also passed $175 million in user spend over its lifetime. 48 per cent of all revenue was made in China, where users have spent $85.4 million on TikTok.
Global spending month to month has also increased dramatically over the last 12 months. In November 2018, TikTok brought in $4.3 million from global spending, which increased to 18.2 million in October 2019 alone.
TikTok was fined $5.7 million by the Federal Trade Commission back in February 2019, which coincidentally is how much the platform made by global user spending during that month. TikTok also surpassed the one billion installs mark in February 2019, and 500 million additional installs over nine months is an impressive feat.
And while TikTok is growing exponentially at a rapid rate, brands are still struggling to determine how to market there. This sweet spot of dissonance has allowed companies to run campaigns across TikTok at a “cut-price” rate, taking advantage of the platform's large audience for a fraction of what they'd spend over on rival platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
“TikTok is substantially more affordable than Instagram. A lot of brands are still learning and understanding TikTok’s potential value, said Social Chain head of influencer marketing Tom Peters, speaking to The Telegraph in back in April.
