😍 REVIEWS News – Paris/France.
Walt Disney has reached an important milestone in its business of Streaming : for the first time, the entertainment group is ahead of industry pioneer Netflix in terms of the number of subscriptions sold. According to a quarterly report just released, its three video platforms Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ together total 221,1 million subscriptions. Netflix recently had 220,7 million. And while Netflix has reported two consecutive quarters of declining subscribers, Disney has remained on a growth trajectory so far. Overall, Disney is likely to have fewer customers than Netflix because subscriptions are counted multiple times when multiple platforms are purchased in a package.
However, Disney platforms will soon become much more expensive. The group has announced a price increase for December – initially for the US domestic market. Like Netflix, Disney also wants to offer a cheaper subscription plan with ads. Disney's quarterly earnings were broadly better than analysts' expectations, with the stock price rising 4% on Thursday.
Precisely because Netflix is struggling, Disney's numbers were awaited with particular excitement this time around. Overall, Disney is in great shape with its Streaming, but the picture is not entirely clear. For its most important platform, Disney+, the group increased the number of its subscribers from 14,4 million to 152,1 million. This was much more than analysts expected.
The depressing
However, that was largely due to international business, with Disney+ launching in over 50 new countries in the last quarter. The platform is slowing significantly in the North American home market, where the number of customers has grown only marginally.
The group has also lowered its medium-term forecasts, for 2024 it now expects 215 to 245 million subscribers, previously we were talking about 230 to 260 million. The correction was justified by the loss of rights to broadcast cricket matches in India. Disney has also moved away from the profitability of its services of Streaming. It posted an operating loss of $1,1 billion last quarter, down from $293 million a year ago. Disney blamed the higher costs to produce and market its content.
The company now apparently wants to pass on the increased costs to its customers. The monthly price of Disney+ is expected to drop from $7,99 to $10,99 in the United States in December. At the same time, a version of the service with advertising is to be launched at the previous price of $7,99. Nothing has yet been announced about a possible price increase in Germany, where Disney+ has so far cost 8,99 euros.
Other platforms have also increased their prices recently. Netflix raised the price of its standard US subscription from $13,99 to $15,49 per month, and Amazon raised the annual fee for its Prime customer loyalty program, which includes a video service, from $119 to $139. For Disney, the price increases now announced may not be the last.
Several pillars
CEO Bob Chapek said on a conference call that he still saw "wiggle room." He pointed out that Disney was initially charging relatively low prices for its offerings of Streaming. The higher fees are intended to help reduce losses in the Streaming. Profits are targeted for 2024.
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For the group as a whole, Disney recorded a sales increase of 26% to 21,5 billion dollars, net profit increased by 53% to 1,4 billion dollars. In addition to the services of Streaming, sales growth is mainly due to amusement parks. This activity is very important to Disney, and it has been particularly affected by the pandemic.
But now it has normalized. Compared to the previous year, when some parks still had capacity restrictions, sales increased by 70%. According to the company, visitor numbers at U.S. parks are higher on many days than before the pandemic, and Disneyland Paris generated more sales than in the comparable quarter of 2019. However, Disney Park Shanghai was closed for most of the past. trimester.
SOURCE: Reviews News
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