According to the latest data released by Sensor Tower in June 2025, China ‘ s non-play mobile applications showed strong global market performance in May 2025, especially on the three main tracks of short operas, e-commerce and AI tools, with global consumer spending for non-play applications increasing by 25 per cent each year.
The Latin American and South-East Asian markets have recently grown rapidly, benefiting from increased penetration of smartphones, improved Internet infrastructure and the rapid growth of young user groups. In the Latin American market, Sensor Tower noted a 69 per cent increase in downloads from the first quarter of the short-time application, as well as a similarly strong income performance, with global short-time applications close to a new high.
TikTok continues to lead the global short video field, with its mobile end-of-the-morning active overseas month users breaking a billion for the first time in May 2025, becoming the first Chinese non-player application to reach this milestone. In contrast, eMarketer estimates that TikTok ‘ s monthly active users on the United States market are 117.9 million, or 32.9 per cent of the United States population.
TikTok ‘ s success has benefited from its precision algorithms, its diversified content ecology and its deep operation in local markets. In South-East Asia, TikTok works with local musicians and brands to improve user viscosity; in Latin America, its short video content covers entertainment, fashion and education, attracting users of a wide range of ages. The Sensor Tower data show that TikTok experienced a 20 per cent increase in in-house purchase income in May 2025 for global applications, mainly from live reward and advertising.
Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are the main growth points for non-player applications in China. Short operas and localization strategies applied by electricians drive both downloads and income growth, while AI tools are rapidly available for education. Increased penetration of smartphones in Indonesia, Thailand, Viet Nam and the Philippines provides the basis for growth in applications. Sensor Tower noted that South-East Asia became the second largest mobile game downloading area worldwide in the first quarter of 2025, and non-play-like applications performed equally strongly, with a 3 per cent increase in downloads over the same period.
TikTok officially launched the Creative Incentives Programme 2.0 in 2025, which helps creators to optimize content strategies and increase fan interaction through data analysis tools and exclusive operational guidance. There are plans to integrate TikTok Shop and advertising resources to provide creators with more commercial liquidity.
In May 2025, Sensor Tower data showed a 20 per cent increase in revenue from in-house purchases for TikTok global applications, with a significant contribution from live feed and from the electrician in TikTok Shop. The launch of Creative Incentives 2.0 has further enhanced the adhesion and content quality of the platform, with TikTok accounting for 80 per cent of its total revenue in 2024, amounting to $23 billion.
The byte-jumping video editing tool CapCut, launched in May this year as an “AI Smart Sound” feature, automatically generating video subtitles, audio and clip templates through artificial intelligence, significantly lowers the creation threshold. By May 2025, CapCut ‘ s global monthly downloads had stabilized at about 33 million times, with cumulative downloads exceeding 2 billion times (the Android end had exceeded 1 billion in the third quarter of 2024). As of the fourth quarter of 2024, CapCut monthly active users were estimated at 264.25 million, or one quarter of TikTok users.
CapCut ‘ s success is inextricably linked to its seamless integration with TikTok, where users can directly export edited videos to TikTok, thus enhancing creative efficiency.
