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Popular video-sharing platform TikTok continues to grow at a high rate globally based on the number of new app downloads. Data gathered by Learnbonds.com indicates that during the first quarter of 2020, the platform recorded an all-time high number of downloads at 200 million, a growth of 28.20% from the fourth quarter of 2019 when the app downloads were 156 million.
The downloads peaked in March when the app added about 75.5 million new downloads. This figure represents a growth of about 24.79% from the 60.5 million downloads in February 2020. Interestingly, the February downloads represented a drop of about 5.5% from January’s 64 million downloads.
An overview of TikTok’s downloads since the first quarter of 2019 shows steady growth. During the fourth quarter of last year, December recorded the highest number of downloads of 2019 at 57.5 million. For last year, the lowest downloads were recorded in February when the figure was 36 million. In 2019, TikTok had over half a billion app downloads at 523.5 million.
The downloads were recorded across the platform’s main app and lite app. TikTok is available on both iOS and Android platforms. Notably, most of the downloads are on the android platform which has four different versions of the application available in various countries globally.
The surge in TikTok’s downloads comes amid the global Coronavirus pandemic, which has seen consumers focus on their mobile devices more than ever as they look for new ways to shop, work, and interact.
From the data, it is clear that the growth of TikTok has not been impacted by the recent concerns raised regarding the application. Towards the end of the fourth quarter of last year, the TikTok came under investigation by the United States authorities as a matter of national security. Questions have risen due to the application’s Chinese ties. On the other hand, the UK launched a probe regarding how the application uses data related to young users.
TikTok is currently available in about 150 countries with support for 75 languages. Several countries have stood out in regards to TikTok adoption in recent months. The data also highlight the countries that had the most downloads during the first three months of 2020.
During the first quarter of 2020, India led in downloads with 55 million new TikTok app installs. The figures represent about 27.4% of the total downloads witnessed in the first three months of 2020. Brazil was the second highest country with the most downloads at 14% of the total downloads. The United States had the third-largest downloads at 13.7% followed by Indonesia at 6.7% while Russia closes the top five categories with 4.1% of the total downloads.
Downloads from Mexico represented 3.5% of the cumulative figure followed by the Philippines at 3.4% while Pakistan had 2.7%. Egypt had 2.6% with Turkey closing the top ten categories with 2.6% of the downloads. Downloads from other parts of the world stood at around 46.4 million representing about 23.2%.
India continues to be one of the top markets for TikTok despite having a rough path at the start. At some point, the app was banned in the country over allegations that it exposes minors to sexual predators and pornographic content. However, the app was restored after TikTok showed it had revised its content guidelines.
From the data, it’s clear, TikTok is now a major threat to established social media platforms like Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). Notably, Facebook owns Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, other popular social network platforms.
TikTok is a fast-rising social network platform that allows users to create 15-second videos, soundtracked by music clips. The application comes with a diverse library of editing tools, filters, and effects enabling users to adapt and remix posts by other users. Apart from sharing videos, the application also enables users to view content from other users.
Some of the popular content on TikTok is centered around lip-syncing, dancing, comedy skits, and other physical activities. The features have been appealing to young people, something that led to the app snowballing in popularity globally.
Notably, leading global brands have taken note of TikTok’s popularity and are leveraging on it as a marketing tool. Sony Pictures, Paramount, Clarins, Pull & Bear, Adidas, Nike, and Samsung have established a TikTok presence in recent months.
