Netflix Lost Badly to Disney+ This Year

There is a massive threat to competition in the streaming industry. Netflix the pioneer of streaming suffered a crushing defeat compared to Disney+ in southeast Asia and experienced a decline in subscribers worldwide. People also ask what’s wrong with Netflix. How can Disney+ displace the pioneers? Let’s dive into the article.

Streaming giant company Netflix experienced another loss of 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2022. Previously Netflix lost more than 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. However, this figure is better than what Netflix predicted as it thought it would lose two million subscribers. According to TechCrunch, this number is the largest in the history of Netflix.

Indeed, in the past year, Netflix has faced a significant threat from new players in the streaming industry, such as Disney+, HBO Max, and Paramount Plus. Last quarter, Paramount Plus subscribers grew by nearly 40 million, HBO and HBO Max added 13 million new subscribers, while Disney+ subscribers added 8 million.

Not just losing subscribers recently, Netflix has changed its business strategy to deal with the difficult months ahead. In May and June, Netflix laid off 450 employees.

This incident began with a case of sharing profiles that were widely traded cheaply and not in the same house. Of course, this purchase did not occur on the official Netflix platform. This certainly does not have a good impact on Netflix.

Of course, Disney+ takes advantage of this momentum to attract customers to use their platform. How does Disney+ overtake the top leader in the market?

How Disney+ Could Overtake Netflix?

The good news came from Disney+, which immediately took over the international market and shifted the pioneer of digital streaming. Disney+ Hotstar (the India and Southeast Asia Disney+ subsidiary) recorded an increase in new subscribers by 22%, or as much as 7.9 million. This was revealed through Walt Disney’s financial statements for the first quarter of 2022. This increase in paid subscribers means Disney+ currently has 87.6 million subscribers, consisting of 4.4 million in America and 43.2 million international subscribers.

Not only that, Disney+ has been named the leader of the Subscription Video On Demand platform in Southeast Asia. By recording the most subscriber growth in Indonesia, reaching 5 million subscribers. This figure is about 28% of 17.4 million Indonesians who subscribe to Subscription Video On Demand. Its competitor Netflix only has 906,000 subscribers until 2020.

This Disney+ strategy is revealed by their original content, which partners with Marvel. Marvel movies are stored on their video-on-demand list with low subscription fees. Disney+ offers affordable subscription fees starting from IDR 39,000 per month or IDR 199,000 per year; customers can already enjoy Disney+ content. In addition, Disney+ also attracts partners in cooperation with internet provider providers.

That way, Disney+ can become a leader in Asia and get international customers. Establishing a strategy of cooperation with other brands is an effective marketing strategy for Disney+.

But what about Netflix? Will the next year be the leader of the streaming industry? Let’s discuss.

Is There Any Chance for Netflix to Retake the Top Position?

Now Netflix is ​​planning Netflix to also launch a new subscription package at a lower price but with advertisements. In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said the package would launch early next year.

But not all Netflix content will be available on ad-supported plans due to content licensing agreement issues. Netflix Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said the company will deliver some content, but not all of it will be available when the package launches.

In addition, Netflix plans to fight users who share accounts with other users who don’t live in the same house. Netflix has started experimenting by testing the ‘add a home’ feature, where users will be charged an additional $3 if they want to share an account with users who don’t live in the same household.

Take the Golden View

Of course, Netflix’s customer loss was reported in international media, and the public also wondered why this pioneer could suffer such a significant loss. This can certainly be an evaluation of Big companies and startups to be more careful, and there is always a plan for recovery from critical times in business.