In the early days of video streaming, the competition wasn’t as fierce, and where companies such as Netflix reigned. However, in the past couple of years, we’re starting to see a rise in the number of video streaming services from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Disney, HBO, and more, and as such, it’s not surprising that Netflix’s subscriber count is taking a hit.
According to the company’s second quarter earnings, it has been revealed that Netflix only managed to nab 2.7 million new global subscribers in the recent quarter. This is short of the company’s original guidance which was estimated at 5 million, meaning that the company only managed to get half of what they had predicted.
As we said, it shouldn’t be surprising when you consider that there are so many upcoming new services coming up that customers are choosing to go with the alternatives. Disney is probably going to be the biggest threat, with the company owning many popular IPs such as Marvel and Star Wars, in addition to Disney content. Plus with Disney’s controlling stake in Hulu, it does sound like Netflix could face some stiff competition ahead.
That being said, an interesting phenomenon has come about as a result of streaming. This is because due to there being too many streaming options around, and with each service trying to gain exclusive content, it has actually resulted in a rise in piracy due to consumers unwilling to pay to subscribe to multiple services at once.
Filed in . Read more about Entertainment and Netflix. Source: 9to5mac