Apple TV+ has been available for almost two years now, and while its catalog of original movies and TV shows has been growing considerably, the platform is far from being a huge global success like its competitors. Earlier this week, research firm Digital TV Research reported that Apple TV+ is expected to reach nearly 36 million subscribers by the end of 2026.
According to the research (via The Hollywood Reporter), Disney+ has the best case scenario when looking ahead. Data suggests that Disney’s streaming service will reach 284.2 million subscribers by 2026, thus taking the top spot from Netflix — expected to have 270.7 million subscribers by then.
While Netflix still has impressive numbers, expectations for the company’s platform have dropped by a few million when compared to last year’s data. Amazon Prime Video is also expected to grow significantly, but it should remain in third place with 243.4 million users.
Coming in behind Amazon, the Chinese platform iQiyi is expected to reach fourth place in the ranking with 76.8 million subscribers by the end of 2026, followed by HBO Max with 76.3 million subscribers. As for Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service “will record 35.6 million users then.”
A recent report revealed that Apple TV+ currently has less than 20 million subscribers, which means that the platform is expected to grow by about 16 million subscribers over the next five years. Another research indicates that Apple TV+ has 3% market share compared to other streaming services.
Apple wants new content every week
Rumors suggest that Apple plans to add new content every week to Apple TV+ starting in 2022. So far, Apple’s streaming service has more than 70 original movies and TV shows.
The company has been aggressively investing in more original content by hiring leading Hollywood names and well-known personalities such as Sam Catlin, Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, Jon Stewart, Idris Elba, Alfonso Cuaron, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kerry Ehrin, Misha Green, Moshe Zonder, Alon Aranya, and many more.
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