The social media platform TikTok, known for its short-form videos and livestreams, continues to be the hottest app from China. According to data from May by Sensor Tower, non-game apps from China surged last month. This was mostly driven by microdrama, e-commerce and AI, and the fastest-growing markets are Latin America and Southeast Asia. TikTok has also hit a new landmark in terms of monthly active users.
TikTok ranks top in the short-form video category, with its overseas mobile app seeing over 1 billion monthly active users for the first time. TikTok also tops the Chinese non-games income ranking, download ranking and active users ranking for its global app. CapCut, the global version of JianYing (剪映), a video editing app from ByteDance, had 33 million downloads in May. TikTok and CapCut are creating a closed-loop ecosystem for creatives in the video field.
TikTok recently announced that it would increase its investment in the UK with a new office in London to expand its operations and teams in the country. This would boost its UK infrastructure investment to about 140 million GBP (195.65 million USD). The UK has over 30 million monthly users of TikTok, making it the largest user community in Europe. TikTok is also adjusting its US e-commerce business, replacing management from China with local recruits in Seattle.
With the “sale or ban” order in limbo, it is predicted that TikTok will invest outside the US. Its recent success in user and income, however, adds to its leverage as an indispensable platform for users, creators and brands alike. Strengthening its e-commerce arm across the board will likely be its next step into monetisation.