Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says TikTok could become bigger than Instagram

App intelligence company App Annie ranks TikTok just behind Instagram in terms of monthly active users in 2019.

ByteDance has long spent money to advertise the app on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, essentially buying users away from its biggest rivals. (REUTERS)

Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel says TikTok could become bigger than rival Instagram.

Chinese giant ByteDance Inc. has emerged as the world's most valuable startup on the explosive popularity of TikTok, known as Douyin locally, where users share short clips of lip-syncing and dance videos. The short-form video service has about 400 million active users daily, a Niko Partners analyst estimates.

"I love TikTok," Spiegel said Sunday on the "Bavaria" stage at the annual Digital Life Design Conference in Munich. "I'm a big fan."

App intelligence company App Annie ranks TikTok just behind Instagram in terms of monthly active users in 2019.

"It's possible" TikTok could become bigger than Instagram, Spiegel said. Instagram reached the 1 billion monthly active users milestone in 2018.

Ironically, TikTok's growth can be in part credited to Instagram owner Facebook Inc. ByteDance has long spent money to advertise the app on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, essentially buying users away from its biggest rivals.