lon Musk’s is still struggling to grow its subscriber base in order to grow revenue. Elon Musk’s plan to reduce its dependence on advertising revenue
and in exchange grow its paid subscriptions, seems to not be paying off.
According to a new analysis made by Appfigures over the X Premium Subscription service, X has gathered approximately $200 million from in-app purchases across iOS and Android ever since its launch in 2021.
However, this revenue is only based on the purchases that were made via the mobile app, not the mobile or desktop versions. This suggests that the real numbers are more likely higher, even more, so that X offers a discount code for purchases made on the web.
Another thing to consider is the commission fees that are implied. After paying the app store commissions, according to Appfigures, the minimum estimate for X revenue is $140 million. This number can, yet be even bigger, as Apple and Google offer discount commissions from %30 to %15 in the second year.
Even though Twitter Blue was launched in 2021 and then relaunched in December 2022 Twitter leveraged non-advertising revenue. And, in less than three months after the launch, the paid subscription service, brought in only $11 million according to app data provider Sensor Tower. It is also worth mentioning that a year ago, X launched two additional subscription plans – Basic and Premium+.
While it is likely impossible to determine how many X users are actually paying for X Premium subscriptions, we can at least use estimates. So, keeping this in mind, let’s analyze X's potential revenue.
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At the moment X has three subscription plans: Basic, Premium, and Premium Plus. These subscription plans can also offer access to features such as Grok AI, the blue verified sign, fewer ads, and other optional features. And, based on App Store data, the most in-app purchase is X Premium, which costs $11 monthly on mobile devices. According to Appfigures in September 2024, X earned $14.7 million from in-app purchases.
There are, however, more in-app purchases available for users, beyond the subscription plans. One example is the subscription available for creators, Elon Musk being one of them. Last week, X announced that they will be introducing payments for creators, based on their engagement in the platform. Yet, this procedure can attract creators to use clickbait in order to have more replies and larger engagement rates.
Yet, it is safe to say that X generated $1.48 billion in total revenue, according to Bloomberg, during their first 6 months of 2024, which translates into how small subscriptions really weigh.
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