December is behind us, which means it's time to continue the monthly tradition and check in on X's revenue. I've been doing that since day one and a few years in, things are nothing like where they started.
Oh, and December was a record month for consumer spending on X thanks to a simple strategic move that I'm sure all social platforms will employ next year.
Numbers first. Our App Intelligence shows X grossed a total of $25M between the App Store and Google Play. The most X saw in a single month. Gross revenue means what users paid not what Elon gets to keep. After fees, Elon's take was $17.6M.
December's record revenue comes after a very strong November where X saw almost $24M in gross revenue, according to our estimates.
You might think this revenue is a result of the elections in the US and everything that means, but looking at the daily revenue that isn't exactly the answer. The strategy that helped X get to these numbers is simpler. X ran two promotions in December: a Black Friday sale and end of year sale.
The Black Friday campaign pushed X's daily revenue to the highest it's ever been, and not by a little. Our App Intelligence shows that gross revenue peaked at a massive $1.9M. In just one day. It might not be TikTok money, but it's more than 5 times higher than an average day for X.
The majority of the revenue came from the US App Store with Japan coming in second. Japan has always been a strong source of revenue for X and has seen monthly revenue triple in 2024, suggesting growth won't be slowing down even though in the US, the platform has become very political.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.