As 2025 kicked off, the tech scene was rocked with waves of change.
In January, the ban on TikTok in the United States caused quite a stir, and in the midst of this, another social media app, "rednote", reaped significant benefits.
By the end of January, a Chinese-developed AI application called DeepSeek quickly gained attention, sparking global interest.
You're probably curious to know if DeepSeek's emergence has impacted the AI heavyweight "ChatGPT"!
Let's explore the notable growth trends of "TikTok", "rednote", "DeepSeek", and "ChatGPT" in January！
TikTok
Did the January ban on TikTok in the US affect its global downloads and revenue?
The answer is: definitely!
According to
FoxData-Estimmated Downloads/Revenue, we found that in 2024, TikTok ranked first in total downloads and total revenue in the United States on both the App Store and Google Play.
The United States had a particularly striking share of TikTok's global total revenue, achieving a dominant first place. It accounted for 65.91% on the App Store and 72.75% on Google Play.
In January, due to the US ban, TikTok's revenue saw a noticeable decline on both the App Store and Google Play.
However, in February, TikTok received good news.
Twenty-six days after it was banished from US app stores, TikTok has returned to the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.
Curious about TikTok's subsequent app performance? Click
here to find out more.
rednote
Since TikTok was banned in the United States by a federal appeals court on January 9th, another app from China, "rednote", has gained attention from American users.
According to Top Charts, this app surged to the top of the App Store Free Chart on January 13th and maintained its position there for nine consecutive days.
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Read More: TikTok Ban Propels RedNote to the Top of US Download Charts
In just the first week of January, the app saw over 15 million new installs on both the App Store and Google Play, according to FoxData.
According to
App Intelligence, Rednote achieved 10,445,228 downloads on the App Store and 10,240,933 downloads on Google Play in January. Just looking at the download numbers, you might not grasp the remarkable breakthrough the app achieved.
However, based on the monthly download line chart obtained from FoxData-App Intelligence below, you can visually see the rocket-like surge in user acquisition in January!
On the App Store, Rednote's downloads increased by 106% month-over-month in January, while on Google Play, the increase was even more astonishing, with downloads rising nearly 1275%!
The return of TikTok in the US in February might impact Rednote's download numbers.
Curious about Rednote's subsequent app performance? Click
here to find out more.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek made a sensational debut in the AI and app world upon its launch in the United States, reaching 2 million downloads within just a few days.
According to
FoxData-Global Chart Analysis, this app achieved the number one spot on the Apple App Store download chart in 140 countries within just one day of its launch, and it has also topped the Google Play Store in the U.S.
On January 20, 2025, DeepSeek launched its reasoning model, DeepSeek-R1, and simultaneously open-sourced its model weights.
By leveraging large-scale reinforcement learning techniques, it significantly enhanced its reasoning capabilities, achieving performance comparable to top closed-source products.
Starting from this point, DeepSeek began to rapidly gain global attention, marking a significant industry breakthrough.
In less than 11 days, downloads soared, resulting in 7,288,188 users acquired on the App Store and 2,710,870 users on Google Play in January alone.
In the U.S. market's App Store, DeepSeek surged ahead, and after January 26th, it even surpassed ChatGPT by a considerable margin.
The rapid rise of DeepSeek as a free alternative signals the onset of true competition in the future.
ChatGPT
The emergence of DeepSeek as a free alternative did not have a substantial impact on ChatGPT's revenue in January.
According to FoxData-
App Intelligence, ChatGPT's downloads and revenue for January showed an upward trend, indicating that it had not yet been affected by DeepSeek.
However, given that DeepSeek gained global popularity only in late January, it remains to be seen whether ChatGPT will experience significant impact. Observing ChatGPT's revenue data for February will provide more insights into any potential effects.
According to FoxData-
Smart Review Summary, user feedback has highlighted dissatisfaction with ChatGPT due to memory issues, subscription costs, and bug problems. These concerns have been increasingly evident in user reviews, suggesting areas where ChatGPT may need to focus on improvements to maintain its competitive edge.
Once a new strong competitor emerges, if there isn't a swift response in these three areas, it's highly likely that there will be a significant impact down the line.
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