No one can fault Netflix for timing—it became the poster child of modern streaming by getting there first. It was streaming content as early as 2007, and the first Netflix Original, LilyhammerLilyhammer, debuted a decade ago in 2012. It's now live in 190 countries.
But Disney is king when it comes to early growth. Looking at numbers tracked by Statista, it's clear that Disney+, the company’s main streaming service (though it also owns Hulu and ESPN+) has experienced phenomenal growth, hitting far above its forecast—90 million users by 2024—to grow to 164.2 million in less than three years, since its launch in November 2019.
Here’s a breakdown of Disney+ subscriber growth from quarter to quarter.
Take a look at Netflix's growth going back only to 2013. It didn’t top 160 million subs until Q4 2019, which is a lot longer, whether you peg the start of Netflix streaming from 2007 or 2012.
Of course, Disney+ launched into a mature market full of streaming boxes and smart TVs with the power of its popular library of titles, including Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. It also had, sad to say, COVID-19 on its side—Disney+ growth may not have been quite as spectacular if people had been going out more.
Both companies have one major strategy in common: Spending money to make money. Statista’s report notes that Disney’s direct-to-consumer segments have lost $4 billion for the year. Not a lot of people watched Moon Knight, perhaps. Netflix, of course, is well known for throwing cash (as much as $17 billion per year) into making originals to fuel growth, something it has only recently begun to scale back on after subscribers began to hemorrhage.
Which service will spend its way to the top? We can literally sit back and relax and watch the competition unfold.