Facebook-owned WhatsApp remains at top of the charts – though the messaging app hasn’t made as much of a dent in the US market, it’s phenomenally successful throughout the rest of the world. Storming into the top five is a little app you may just have heard of called TikTok, which has experienced a great year (despite the odd controversy) and risen up the ranks. Then there’s Disney+, an app for a service that only launched in a select few markets in November, and yet still received an eye-watering number of downloads. TikTok is a serious money-maker too, with revenue growing 540% in the last quarter. WhatsApp may be leading the charts, but Zuckerberg’s messaging app isn’t pulling in the dollars, and with the company’s recent decision to back down from paid-for adverts on the platform, it could be a while before it can compete with TikTok financially. The latter made $40 million in December alone. TikTok can thank its native China for most of its revenue. The country was responsible for 78% of TikTok’s revenue in the last quarter of 2019. The US market contributed just 16% of TikTok’s global revenue. When it comes to new downloads, India has shown the most passion for the TikTok platform. Despite a slight dip in April of last year when it was banned by the government for 22 days, popularity has quickly increased, and the country is responsible for 45% of the app’s downloads. The one exception to this rule appears to be the House of Mouse. Disney may have only launched its Disney+ service in November, but if its app downloads are anything to go by, it has hit the ground running. In the last quarter, the app was the most downloaded in the US, with 30 million downloads, beating the likes of Facebook and TikTok. Considering you need to be a subscriber to use the app, it certainly seems to bode well for the media company. As an example, Netflix currently has around 60 million subscribers, which it has studiously built-up over the past decade. Disney+ has reached half that number in just two months – although its 7-day free trial will naturally account for some of the curious first downloads. Infographic created by SensorTower In second place is the Disney+ app – hardly a plucky underdog that’s come out of nowhere. You might expect it to have done well, but it’s worth remembering that the app launched in limited territories last year, and is still to roll out in a majority of global locations. Third is another app that is probably missing from your phone – Jianying Vlog. This video editing app is owned by ByteDance, the company behind TikTok. Only available on the Apple App store, it has amassed over 30 million downloads. The rest of the top twenty new apps are pretty esoteric. There’s CashBean, an India-based loan app, YOLO, an anonymous Q&A app that works in conjunction with SnapChat, and Bodybuilding Fighting, which as the name suggests is a fighting game featuring muscle-bound characters pummelling each other into submission. All in all, this group shows just how hard it can be to pinpoint the next mobile app trend. Infographic created by SensorTower
