In terms of user base, TikTok is undoubtedly ByteDance’s most successful app and the most successful social media app from China to go global.
According to data from TikTok Newsroom, TikTok has 1.601 billion users with 1.05 billion monthly active users, including 150 million users from the United States. Globally, only Facebook (2.95 billion), YouTube (2.51 billion), WhatsApp (2 billion), Instagram (2 billion), and WeChat (1.3 billion) have more monthly active users than TikTok.
Apart from TikTok, ByteDance has two influential apps overseas: Lemon8, a popular social media platform, and CapCut, a video editing software.
On April 12th, British blogger Elaine posted on Instagram introducing Lemon8. She mentioned to Xia Guang She that she has also started posting content on the platform but is still studying account management strategies. She said, “It seems like more and more people are using it, and I think people prefer its freedom and creativity compared to other platforms.”
According to Xia Guang She, in March 2020, ByteDance launched Lemon8, a “grass-planting” app overseas, with Japan as its first destination. In February 2023, Lemon8 began testing its launch in the UK and the US markets. Lemon8, with lemon yellow as its theme color, focuses on lifestyle content such as beauty, skincare, fashion, food, travel, and home, and its product design and positioning are similar to the domestic app Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
Up to now, Lemon8 has gained market share in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has also garnered attention in the UK and US markets.
According to data from the analysis platform Apptopia, since its launch in the US app store in February, Lemon8 has been downloaded over 1 million times in the US, with approximately 500,000 daily active users in March. Furthermore, since its launch in March 2020, Lemon8 has accumulated a total of 17 million downloads worldwide, with Japan still being its largest market, accounting for 36.5% of its downloads.
If Lemon8 is still a slowly growing baby, then CapCut is a young app that is rapidly developing following in the footsteps of TikTok.
Recently, app intelligence platform App Intelligence released the global non-game mobile app download rankings for April 2023. In April, CapCut obtained 12 million downloads on the App Store, ranking first. It also gained an additional 15 million downloads on Google Play. Overall, the app has garnered around 27 million downloads and maintained its position at number five on the comprehensive ranking list, consistent with its ranking in March.
