Disney has announced that it has gained another 4.5 million subscribers since April 8 in its latest earnings call, taking the streaming service to a record-breaking 54.5 million in total.
Having launched in November, Disney has expanded into new markets in recent months, including in Europe, which has helped it to attract almost 55 million subscribers in total. It’s a truly impressive figure, though no doubt partly fueled by the current coronavirus pandemic causing families to stay indoors for months on end, looking for affordable entertainment.
In March, Disney branched out into the UK, as well as European countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and India, following a successful launch in the US in November.
The latest subscriber count is considerably ahead of the company’s own projections, with the company estimating that the service would attract between 60 and 90 million subscribers by the end of 2024.
If the current rate of growth continues, the company should comfortably hit that target in the next month or two, but whether consumers will stick around post-lockdown remains to be seen.
Though Disney does offer an attractive year-long discount, most users opt for a monthly subscription, which can be canceled at any time.
We can’t make a comparison between Disney+ and Apple TV+, which launched at the same time, as Apple doesn’t offer subscriber numbers for its own service.
What’s more, Apple has been offering a free year of Apple TV+ to anyone who purchases a new Mac or iPhone, so we’ll need to wait a couple of years before we’ll know whether the service has been a success.
Disney+ will no doubt continue to dominate in the streaming market and gain ground on rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, as the company has an established back catalog and billion-dollar franchises that can be wheeled out. T
he company’s flagship original series, The Mandalorian, for example, has proved to be incredibly popular.
Apple, on the other hand, is making some headway with its own shows like The Morning Show, See, and For All Mankind, but some have suggested that the company should buy a rival studio such as MGM, the maker of the James Bond series, to bolster its IPs and content.
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