According to recent research, video-sharing platform TikTok has become the first app that isn't a mobile game to generate $10 billion in worldwide consumer spending, and it is poised to become the biggest earning app ever.
The remaining four apps were discovered using app intelligence provider data. Candy Crush Saga from Activision Blizzard, Honour of Kings from Tencent, Monster Strike from Mixi, and Supercell's Clash of Clans are among the titles that have hit the milestone.
According to the Monday report, Candy Crush is the current all-time top earner, with more than $12 billion in lifetime user expenditure. The totals are calculated using income from Google Play and Apple's iOS App Store. However, TikTok is projected to outperform the popular game.
"TikTok is on track to become the highest-earning mobile app in history, approaching the $15 billion mark in 2024." "Consumers are tipping their favorite content creators for over $11 million per day, propelling TikTok past the world's most lucrative mobile game to date," Lexi Sydow, head of analytics at data.ai, said in a statement announcing the research.
"TikTokers are poised to spend a 40-hour work week each month in the app by the end of 2024, which is up 22% from 2023," she went on to say.
TikTok's in-app purchases of "coins," which can be used to purchase presents for platform influencers, account for the expenditure. TikTok retains 50% of the compensation for these gifts, which are given to creators in exchange for their work.
TikTok's most popular in-app purchase this year, according to data.ai, has been its bundle of 1,321 coins for $19.99, which accounts for over a quarter of the app's in-app income. Aside from in-app purchases, the phenomenally successful short-form video app includes additional income streams like advertising and e-commerce.
According to the data company, Tinder and video site YouTube are the next closest applications to the $10 billion mark, but they are behind TikTok by $2 to $3 billion as 2023 comes to a close.