What you need to know
- Disney+ has announced a growth of almost 8 million subscribers for the previous quarter.
- Netflix recently reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers last quarter.
- Disney+ now has 138 million subscribers in total.
Streaming service Disney+ managed to add a massive 7.9 million subscribers to its platform last quarter, beating Wall Street expectations of as low as 4.5 million.
At a time when Netflix is still struggling with the news that it lost 200,000 subscribers last quarter, Disney+ is showing everyone how it's supposed to be done. THR reports that the streamer how has almost 138 million subscribers. When you factor in other streaming services including Hulu and ESPN+, Disney proper can boast more than 205 million subscribers in total as noted by CNBC.
However, Disney+ CFO Christine McCarthy seems keen to set expectations, warning people that such growth is unlikely to be repeatable forever.
Disney CFO Christine McCarthy also suggested that Disney+ subscriber growth could slow down in coming quarters. "It is worth mentioning that we had a stronger than expected first half of the year," McCarthy said on the quarterly earnings call, adding that some markets expected to go live in Q3 are in eastern Europe, including Poland, which may be impacted by the war. However, a stronger content slate in the second half of the year should keep Disney+ growing.
This is yet more bad news for Netflix. It faces ever-growing competition from not only Disney+ but Apple TV+ and more. Netflix's increasing price surely isn't helping, although plans for an ad-supported tier may help.
While Disney+ is indeed cheaper than Netflix, bargains like Apple TV+ make it seem even more costly. Priced at just $4.99 per month and available as part of the Apple One bundle, Apple's streaming service is surely the best value out of all of the competition right now.
100% exclusive content for the price of a cup of coffee.
With TV+, you can watch well-produced, big-budget TV shows from famed directors, and starring award-winning actors and actresses across all your Apple devices and with up to six members of your Family Sharing group.
