Home Tech Singapore’s Likee is an unlikely winner of the TikTok ban

Singapore’s Likee is an unlikely winner of the TikTok ban

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Singapore's Likee is an unlikely winner of the TikTok ban

Panic over the TikTok ban in the US increased usage and downloads of a number of alternative social media apps, including Texas-based Clapper, Chinese-owned RedNote, and Likee, a little-known platform from Singapore with an AI-powered video stream similar to TikTok’s, according to new market research.

People in the United States were unable to access TikTok for about 14 hours from Saturday night to Sunday after a federal law aimed at curbing China’s alleged influence over the app went into effect and triggered an unprecedented incident of censorship. on the Internet in a country that values ​​free expression. About 63 percent of American teens and a third of American adults use TikTok, according to Pew Research Center.

Among the places where some of them took refuge was Likee, a TikTok clone launched by profitable Singapore tech company Joyy in 2017. Likee had about 33.9 million monthly users in November, most of whom were outside of the United States. But on Saturday, Likee saw 143 percent more downloads and 37 percent more usage in the U.S. than the day before, according to Sensor towerwhich estimates figures by collecting data from a sample of devices. The trend continued until Sunday, when Likee usage increased 11 percent from the previous day.

Estimates from Apptopia, another company that studies the app industry, show that for months, Likee saw fewer than 10,000 downloads per day in the U.S. before jumping to nearly 167,000 on Sunday and around 286,000 on Monday. Apptopia also estimated similar increases for TikTok competitors Clapper and Flip.

On Tuesday, shares of Likee parent company Joyy closed up about 3 percent, outpacing the average gain among its Nasdaq peers. cheerful No Breaking down Likee’s financials, it and some of its other sister apps collectively generated about $73 million in sales during the third quarter of last year from advertising and user purchases. Likee did not respond to a request for comment.

Other less frequented apps, including Clapper and Snap’s Snapchat, attracted increased interest over the weekend due to double-digit gains in user activity. TikTok’s biggest rivals, Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, saw more modest single-digit boots. Meanwhile, YouTube and X saw little change in usage.

RedNote, another Chinese app that Americans flocked to in protest in the days before the ban, added 80 percent more users on Sunday than the day before, according to Sensor Tower. In the first two days of boom earlier in the week, more than 700,000 new users joined RedNote. Reuters reported. Known as Xiaohongshu in Chinese, it has ranked as the most downloaded free app in the Google and Apple app stores in the United States in recent days.

TikTok became available again in the United States on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump promised to grant a temporary reprieve to the new law when he takes office the next day. The statute, signed by former President Biden last year, effectively bans TikTok by threatening to fine web hosting providers and app stores that work with its parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, unless it divests ownership. on TikTok. Users returned to TikTok in droves on Sunday, with daily active users up 17 percent from Saturday, Sensor Tower data shows.

On Monday, Trump issued an executive order giving an additional 75 days to resolve the dilemma over TikTok. But the legality of his decree remains in question and TikTok is still not available in US app stores. But when users search for TikTok, they are greeted by a list of alternatives: Likee, Clapper and others among them.

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