New York: Amidst looming threats of a ban in the United States, TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has reported revenue of approximately $16 billion last year, as per the Financial Times.
ByteDance’s overall revenue for 2023 reached $120 billion, marking a substantial 40% increase from the previous year. The surge in revenue is primarily attributed to TikTok’s exponential growth, even though a significant portion of ByteDance’s sales still comes from China, according to sources cited by the FT.
With an estimated user base of around 170 million Americans, the short video platform witnessed record-breaking sales in the U.S. market in 2023.
Read More: OpenAI’s Chip Venture Pursues Investment Talks With Abu Dhabi-backed Firm
Dubbed the “App Factory” due to its frequent release of mobile applications, ByteDance is poised to surpass Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) as the world’s leading social media company in terms of sales, the report noted. Meta’s revenue for 2023 rose by 16% to $134.90 billion.
In response to queries from Reuters, ByteDance did not immediately offer any comments.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would mandate ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets within approximately six months, failing which could lead to a ban on the popular app.
In 2023, TikTok secured its position as the most downloaded social media app in the United States, with 47 million downloads. Facebook and Instagram trailed behind, with 35 million and 34 million downloads, respectively, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
