TikTok Beat Facebook to Become Most Downloaded App in the World: Nikkei Asia

TikTok surpassed Facebook to become the most downloaded app in the world in 2020, according to business journal Nikkei Asia, citing a global survey of app downloads. The journal said that the Chinese short-video app topped the list of social media providers for the first time since the study was first conducted in 2018. TikTok notably managed to mark its growth in the midst of facing nationwide bans last year in markets including India. The growth of TikTok in the app world has majorly impacted Facebook, the US-based social networking giant that had four of the top 10 most downloaded apps in the world in 2020.

The data compiled by Nikkei Asia from analytics platform App Annie shows that TikTok moved to the number one rank on the chart of the most downloaded apps worldwide in 2020 from its fourth position in 2019. Facebook, on the other hand, remained at the second position, but its messaging app — Facebook Messenger — moved from first to the fifth position.

Just like its worldwide growth, TikTok managed to become the most downloaded app in the US in 2020, overtaking Facebook Messenger, Nikkei Asia reports. The Chinese version of TikTok, which is called Douyin, also maintained its dominance in China by retaining its first position.

In Asia (excluding China), TikTok continued to be in the second position in terms of total downloads, while Facebook retained its first rank, the compiled data shows.

TikTok was amongst more than 200 apps that were banned in India between June and September last year.

“The total viewing time for TikTok in the US and UK is longer than that for YouTube, and short videos will continue to attract attention,” said Chuzen Kin, marketing manager at App Annie, as quoted by Nikkei Asia.

Of the top 10 most downloaded apps in the world in 2020, seven were developed in the US and four of them were owned by Facebook. These four — WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger as well as the company's original Facebook app — were among the top five most downloaded apps worldwide.

Unlike TikTok, its homegrown competitor Likee fell to the eighth rank on the global downloads chart in 2020 from the sixth position recorded a year earlier. The recent outrage about WhatsApp's privacy policy update has also helped Telegram gain some momentum and shift from eighth to seventh rank globally.

Nikkei Asia has not provided the exact number of downloads each of the top 10 most downloaded apps received in 2020. Also, official app stores such as the Apple's App Store and the Google Play store appear to be the sources for the data.