It’s been more than a year since the most popular short-video app TikTok was banned in India. Surprisingly, within a month or two, TikTok lost all its 200 million Indian users to some emerging homegrown alternatives such as Mitron, Roposo, Chingari, MX TakaTak, Josh and Sharechat.
The latest report from Redseer reveals interesting trends and the growth factors which is making the short-form video content one of the most on-demand digital content segments among the Indian users.
- The total time spent by Indians on short video apps for 2021 is expected to be nearly 18% of total the time spent on digital content includes OTT audio, OTT video, News Aggregators, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and shortform.
- Homegrown short video apps (Chingari, Josh, Roposo, etc.) are estimated to account for nearly 15% of the total time spent on Internet whereas global short video apps (such as YT Shorts, IG Reels) expected to take up remaining 3%.
- The shortform video category will be ranked second in terms of time spent by Indians, trailing only Google and Facebook Ecosystem.
- The short video app users in India grew from just 125 million in 2018 to nearly 240 million in 2021.
- The short video app MAUs are expected to grow more than 2x to reach nearly 650 million by 2025. The addition of 300 million new Internet users by 2025 will be driving growth.
- Nearly 40% of Smartphone users in India are already using short video apps in CY 2021. This figure is expected to increase to nearly 60-75% by CY 2025.
- The number of short video content creators in India has nearly doubled (Since June 2020 when TikTok got banned) and now stands at 40-45 million, with the majority coming from smaller towns and cities.
- The shortform video segment has the potential to account for 20% of India’s digital ad market, which is estimated to reach $25-35 billion by the end of 2030.
Food for Thought
The ongoing covid-19 pandemic, combined with the work-from-home culture, has resulted in people spending more time on their smartphones than ever. Indian consumers, particularly millennials, are spending more time in watching and creating short form videos. As a result, the consumption of short video content is expected to overtake OTT video content in the near future. Global apps such as Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Dubsmash are facing stiff competition from India-made short video apps. However, it would be interesting to see how the equation shifts once TikTok returns to India.
