TikTok was the world’s most downloaded social app in Q1 2019 with 188 million downloads, narrowly edging second-placed Facebook at 176 million, according to Sensor Tower data cited by Indian news outlet The Economic Times.
The data also shows the ByteDance-owned app is outpacing Facebook in terms of downloads in India, which accounted for 47% of TikTok’s downloads last quarter, compared with 21% of Facebook’s.
Nevertheless, Facebook remains the bigger app in terms of its user base. It has about 300 million users in India, while TikTok has 200 million, according to data from Statista quoted by The Economic Times.
TikTok’s growth in Q2 2019 might also be hampered by its temporary ban in India in April, which Sensor Tower estimates cost the app at least 15 million users.
As one of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets, and with a population of more than 1.3 billion people, of which 40% are connected to the internet, India is a key growth market for internet and technology companies.
India’s smartphone market shipped 32.1 million units in Q1 2019, up 7.1% year-on-year, while the global market fell 6% year-on-year, according to IDC.
Meanwhile, the country’s internet population is expected to grow double-digits and reach 627 million in 2019, according to market research firm Kantar IMRB.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad