'OTT Giant' Disney+ Surpasses 100 Million Paid Subscribers... Growth Slows Down

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[Asia Economy Reporter Joselgina] Disney Plus (+), a global online video service (OTT) considered a rival to Netflix, has surpassed 100 million paid subscribers. However, the subscriber growth rate is slowing down.

According to economic media CNBC and others, Disney announced on the 13th (local time) during its quarterly earnings report that the global paid subscriber count for its OTT service Disney Plus reached 103.6 million as of the 3rd of last month. This falls short of the initial market forecast of 109 million.

CNBC mentioned that during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney Plus and Netflix experienced explosive subscriber growth, and now the growth rate is returning to a "normal" level. As content production for Disney titles like Loki and Luca, which had been halted due to COVID-19, has normalized, it is expected that subscriber growth may accelerate in the second half of the year based on such content.

Bob Chapek, Disney's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), told CNBC, "I was not disappointed because the numbers matched our internal projections." He emphasized, "Subscribers increased beyond expectations in all markets." Disney Plus is expanding to new countries, including launching services in Malaysia and Thailand at the end of June. The service is also set to enter the Korean market in the second half of the year.

On this day, Disney reaffirmed its original goal for Disney Plus to secure 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024. Currently, Netflix, which leads the global OTT market, has approximately 208 million subscribers.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for Disney Plus is $5.61 per month. This figure excludes India's Hotstar; including it lowers the ARPU to around $4. CNBC pointed out that although both Disney Plus and Netflix are showing a slowdown in subscriber growth recently, a key difference between the two companies is ARPU. Last quarter, Netflix's ARPU in the North American market was $14.25 per month, a 9% increase compared to a year ago.

Meanwhile, the total number of subscribers to all Disney-affiliated streaming services, including Hulu, was counted at 199 million.

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