Panic over the US TikTok ban elevated utilization and downloads of a slew of different social media apps, together with Texas-based Clapper, Chinese language-owned RedNote, and Likee, a little-known platform out of Singapore with an AI-powered video feed just like TikTok’s, in accordance with new market analysis.
Folks within the US couldn’t entry TikTok for about 14 hours on late Saturday into Sunday after a federal legislation aimed toward curbing China’s alleged affect over the app went into impact and triggered an unprecedented incident of web censorship in a rustic that prizes free expression. About 63 p.c of US teenagers and a 3rd of US adults use TikTok, in accordance with Pew Research Center.
Among the many locations a few of them took refuge was Likee, a TikTok clone launched by the worthwhile Singaporean tech firm Joyy in 2017. Likee had about 33.9 million month-to-month customers as of November, most of whom had been outdoors the US. However on Saturday, Likee drew 143 p.c extra downloads and 37 p.c extra utilization within the US than the day gone by, in accordance with Sensor Tower, which estimates figures by gathering knowledge from a pattern of units. The pattern continued into Sunday, when Likee utilization ticked up 11 p.c from a day earlier.
Estimates from Apptopia, one other firm that research the app business, present that for months, Likee recorded lower than 10,000 downloads per day within the US earlier than leaping to almost 167,000 on Sunday and about 286,000 on Monday. Apptopia additionally estimated related bumps for TikTok opponents Clapper and Flip.
On Tuesday, shares of Likee’s guardian firm, Joyy, closed up about 3 p.c, outpacing the common achieve amongst its Nasdaq friends. Joyy does not escape Likee’s financials, nevertheless it and a few of its different sibling apps collectively generated about $73 million in gross sales throughout final yr’s third quarter from promoting and consumer purchases. Likee didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Different less-frequented apps, together with Clapper and Snap’s Snapchat, drew elevated curiosity over the weekend to the tune of double-digit positive factors in consumer exercise. TikTok’s largest rivals, Meta’s Instagram and Fb, noticed extra modest single-digit boosts. YouTube and X, in the meantime, skilled little change in utilization.
RedNote, one other Chinese language app that Individuals had flocked to in protest throughout the days earlier than the ban, added 80 p.c extra customers Sunday than the day earlier than, in accordance with Sensor Tower. Within the first two days of the push earlier within the week, over 700,000 new customers joined RedNote, Reuters reported. Referred to as Xiaohongshu in Chinese language, it ranked in current days because the most-downloaded free app on the Google and Apple app shops within the US.
TikTok got here again on-line within the US on Sunday after president-elect Donald Trump promised to offer a brief reprieve of the brand new legislation when he took energy the next day. The statute, signed by former President Biden final yr, successfully bans TikTok by threatening to high-quality internet hosting suppliers and app shops that work with its guardian firm, Chinese language tech big ByteDance, until it divests its possession in TikTok. Customers got here again to TikTok in droves on Sunday, with day by day lively customers up 17 p.c over Saturday, the Sensor Tower knowledge present.
On Monday, Trump issued an government order offering for 75 extra days to kind out the dilemma over TikTok. However the legality of his decree stays in query, and TikTok remains to be unavailable in US app shops. However when customers seek for TikTok, they’re greeted by a listing of alternate options—Likee, Clapper, and others amongst them.