Chinese apps TikTok, Tencent Video, iQiyi among world’s top-earning apps in first half of 2021

Chinese apps, led by viral short-video platform TikTok, made up five of the world’s top-10 earners of app store revenue in the first half of 2021, a sign of how digital spending habits have shifted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ByteDance-owned TikTok, whose numbers include revenue from its Chinese version Douyin, was the highest-grossing non-game app from January 1 through June 23, both in overall revenue and sales derived solely from app store payments, according to preliminary data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower. Google’s YouTube and dating app Tinder came in second and third, respectively.

Streaming video platforms Tencent Video, and Baidu-owned iQiyi came in fourth and fifth among the top app store revenue earners. For overall revenue, they were sixth and eighth, respectively. Alibaba Group Holding-owned Youku and Tencent Holdings’ QQ Music were also among the top 10 app store revenue earners at eighth and 10th place, respectively. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps reached US$64.9 billion across Apple’s App Store and Google Play, up 24.8 per cent year on year. Sensor Tower’s numbers for app store revenue in China only account for money made on Apple’s iOS, not the many Chinese app stores on Android. Google Play is blocked in China.

Chinese consumers were already big mobile spenders before the pandemic, but this trend has accelerated during lockdowns and quarantines over the past 16 months. The entertainment sector has been the biggest beneficiary, especially streaming platforms and video games.