Disney+ subs growth slows in Q2

Disney+ live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian

Disney+’s rapid growth appears to be in decline after the Mouse House’s latest subscriber numbers fell short of market expectations.

The Walt Disney Company (TWDC)’s latest report revealed that the global streamer had 103.6 million subscribers as of April 3, which is seven million fewer than projected by Wall Street.

Experts had forecast that the platform, which launched in the US in November 2019 and has rolled out rapidly across territories including Europe and Latin America, would have around 110 million subscribers by the end of Q2.

The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ has also decreased from US$5.63 to US$3.99. TWDC attributed the average revenue drop to the launch of Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, where the average monthly revenue per paid subscriber is “significantly lower” than in other markets.

Despite signs of slowed growth, Disney+ has still exceeded TWDC’s expectations so far, with the company having initially set a target of reaching between 60 million and 90 million subscribers and achieving profitability in the fiscal year 2024.

Other experts have recently predicted that the platform could overtake Netflix in five years’ time. In February, a report from the UK’s Digital TV Research projected that Disney+ would reach 294 million subscribers by 2026, with Netflix forecast to have 286 million by that time.