TikTok Surpasses $6 Billion in In-App Purchase Revenue... First Among Non-Gaming Apps

Reuters Yonhap News

China's video platform TikTok, combined with the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, surpassed $6 billion (approximately 8.6 trillion KRW) in in-app purchase revenue last year, becoming the first non-gaming app in the world to do so.

On the 24th (local time), IT specialized media TechCrunch reported this citing a report from app statistics provider Sensor Tower.

Last year, TikTok's in-app purchase revenue increased by 36% compared to the previous year ($4.4 billion). It more than doubled the performance of Monopoly GO, which ranked second with $2.6 billion in in-app purchase revenue.

Focusing on the fourth quarter of last year, TikTok's in-app purchase revenue reached a record high of $1.9 billion.

In terms of downloads, TikTok ranked second after Instagram. WhatsApp, Facebook, and Temu followed.

TechCrunch explained that since these figures include Douyin, which focuses more on e-commerce due to Chinese government regulations, simply comparing TikTok's in-app purchase revenue with other apps has its limitations.

The media outlet described TikTok's revenue as another example of how important TikTok is in the creator economy, explaining that users purchase virtual gifts for creators with real money, and these virtual gifts can be cashed out into legal tender. TikTok takes 50% of these payments.

Previously, TikTok became the first non-gaming app to achieve a total consumer spending of $10 billion in 2023.

In the United States, after President Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, the enforcement of the TikTok service ban in the U.S. was postponed, and Apple and Google restored the TikTok app in their U.S. app stores.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.