Despite producing global hits like "Squid Game" in 2021, the streaming giant is struggling to maintain a lead over its competitors. The company fell short of its projections for new subscribers this quarter, adding 8.3 million as opposed to its projected 8.5 million, and it also projects to add just 2.5 million subscribers in Q1 2022, down from 4 million last year. This year marks a downward trend in subscriber growth, the lowest growth year since 2015, and a 50% decrease from the previous year.
The image is from the streaming service.
Competition has only intensified over the last 24 months as entertainment companies all around the world develop their own streaming offering, the company wrote in its letter to shareholders.
Disney has continued to expand at a more aggressive pace, even though it has about 222 million total subscribers. Disney ended the year with 179 million total subscribers, and it plans to double the number of countries that Disney+ is available in. Disney created an International Content and Operations group to expand its direct-to-consumer streaming internationally. December was the most-viewed month since the launch of the service, according to the company.
Disney plans to double their Disney+ footprint.
In India, the platform lowered its prices to try to attract more consumers after six rocky years in the massive entertainment market. Another new revenue stream is gaming. The company has developed games based on its own intellectual property, like the hit show "Stranger Things." This week's biggest tech stories tell us that gaming can be very lucrative. The company says it will add games in 2022.
The company launched a website called Tudum last month, hiring entertainment journalists and editors from publications like Allure, Vanity Fair and Bitch Media to share exclusive content about its originals.
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