Smartphone apps developed by Chinese companies are increasingly in demand around the world, despite a growing tendency for governments to view them as potential security risks.
According to the American research firm Sensor Tower, cited by Nikkei Asia, 33% of the most downloaded applications in the first quarter of 2023 in 95 countries are Chinese: 156 out of 475. This is also 8 percentage points more than in a similar study. . in 2020
ByteDance’s TikTok social network became the most popular social network, reaching the top five in 82 markets (86% of the total). Video editing app CapCut is also rapidly gaining popularity, reaching the top 5 in 48 markets (51% of the total).
Fashion app Shein is the most popular among young people, especially in Europe and South America (ranked in the top five in 10 countries, including Spain and Brazil).
Applications from Chinese developers are in the top 5 in 90% of the countries analyzed, but in ten states they are completely absent from the leading positions (among these countries are India and Japan).
In the US, where the fight against TikTok and other Chinese apps is most active, they still ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in terms of number of downloads. The most downloaded app in the US and Canada in the first quarter was Temu, a Chinese mail order tracker launched by PDD Holdings in fall 2022.
Apps developed in the US have about the same level of presence as Chinese ones, but if in 2020 a similar study showed a significantly higher share of US developments (50%), now the US and China are almost on the same page. pair.
Countries around the world are tightening restrictions on Chinese apps, citing national security concerns. In the US and Europe, government officials are prohibited from installing them on work devices.
TikTok has been banned in the US state of Montana. A report released by the US Congressional advisory body, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, noted that Shein poses a risk of data breach and intellectual property infringement.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
