It is clear that video platforms are going through a transition period where the market is going to put each one in its place. Some companies that seemed unshakable in this segment of the market are not going through their best moment. And an example of what we say is Disney+, which for the first time in its history has accumulated its first reduction in users globally.
The North American firm has published the latest financial results, where it can be seen that the number of subscribers it currently has is 161.8 million worldwide. That is Disney+ has dropped 2.4 million. It is not a particularly high figure, but it is the first time this has happened. And, therefore, we will have to wait for certain measures that are going to be taken by the company that Bob Iger is running right now (while rumors about a potential sale of the platform do not stop appearing).
The descent of Disney + is very localized
This is good news for the company, as it is not a general decline across the globe. According to the firm, it is Southeast Asia and India where the problems lie. Furthermore, it seems that the reason is quite clear: the Indian Premier League loss, which is the most important cricket league in that region. In popularity it is similar to what soccer is in Spain. Therefore, this would be what has led to the aforementioned drop in users.
For the rest, the figures obtained by Disney + in other places are not bad, but they are not as good as on other occasions, which shows that the previous growth of the platform is slowing down (so the objective may not be reached). to reach 250 or 245 million users in 2024). For example, in the US 200,00 new members are added to the platform, being the great surprise that services that are owned by them such as Hulu or ESPN + increased their numbers by 800,000 and 600,000 respectively. Therefore, the income that Disney + has is 23,300 million dollars, something that does not convince many analysts.
Actions to be taken by the company
Well, apart from the arrival of the announcements on the platform, something that sooner or later will land in Spain, everything indicates that the company will go the same way as the technology companies and, therefore, it intends to make some layoffs (possibly 3% of workers who currently have the VOD service). It seems that nobody is saved from burning at the moment.