Communist Cash Bonanza: Consumer Spending on China’s TikTok Jumped 77% in 2021

Users reportedly spent around $2.3 billion on the popular Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok last year, according to a recent report. This represents an astounding 77 percent increase from the previous year. TikTok also surpassed 3 billion global installations, the first app to do so since Facebook.

Pandaily reports that users sent around $2.3 billion on the popular video-sharing app TikTok last year, according to recently released information from Sensor Tower. This includes transactions made on the iOS version of TikTok’s Chinese counterpart app Douyin which is more heavily censored in order to align with Chinese law.

TikTok has seen 77 percent year-on-year growth up from $1.3 billion in 2020. Consumer spending on the app reached $824.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, more than double the $382.4 million generated by the app during the same period in 2020.

57 percent of spending in the fourth quarter of 2021 came from Chinese users compared to 85 percent of in-app spending in the fourth quarter of 2020. The U.S. was the second-highest revenue-generating company for TiikTok, also increasing its spending on the app from 2020. U.S. consumers spent almost $110 million on TikTok, accounting for 13 percent of global revenue.

TikTok’s usage declined in 2021, however, partly due to losing access to India in mid-2020. In 2021 the app reached 740 million first-time installations worldwide, which is a decrease of 25 percent from the 980.7 million installs in 2020.

TikTok has also surpassed 3 billion total installations, making it the first app since Facebook to reach the extremely significant milestone.

Breitbart News previously reported that despite TikTok’s attempts to publicly distance itself from China following scrutiny over the company’s relations with the Chinese government, insiders state that much of the company’s direction still comes from ByteDance staff in Beijing.

In an August 2020 lawsuit, TikTok stated: “TikTok is not and has never been offered in China,” arguing that it was unfair for the Trump administration to attempt to ban the app. In November, ByteDance reorganized into six different business units, making a clear distinction between TikTok and its Chinese products.

But according to six current and former TikTok employees, the firm was still largely under the influence of ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters. Four current and former staffers told Business Insider that discussions relating to TikTok’s products often require calls with employees at ByteDance’s China HQ and final product decisions are regularly made in Beijing.

Read more at Pandaily here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com