Netflix's global subscriber base has reached an impressive milestone, surpassing *** million paid subscribers worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks a significant increase of nearly ** million subscribers compared to the previous quarter, solidifying Netflix's position as a dominant force in the streaming industry. Adapting to customer losses Netflix's growth has not always been consistent. During the first half of 2022, the streaming giant lost over *** million customers. In response to these losses, Netflix introduced an ad-supported tier in November of that same year. This strategic move has paid off, with the lower-cost plan attracting ** million monthly active users globally by November 2024, demonstrating Netflix's ability to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences. Global expansion Netflix continues to focus on international markets, with a forecast suggesting that the Asia Pacific region is expected to see the most substantial growth in the upcoming years, potentially reaching around **** million subscribers by 2029. To correspond to the needs of the non-American target group, the company has heavily invested in international content in recent years, with Korean, Spanish, and Japanese being the most watched non-English content languages on the platform.

Netflix reported approximately 90 million subscribers across the U.S. and Canada in the fourth quarter of 2024, making North America its second-largest global market after Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Netflix reports its first subscriber loss in decades After a decline in the number of paid Netflix subscribers worldwide during the first two quarters of 2022, the streaming giant seems to be back on track, adding over 30 million net subscribers in only one year. The United States and Canada experienced the most substantial combined subscriber loss, which is particularly noteworthy considering that Netflix generates the highest average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) in these countries. When asked about the main reasons for canceling their subscription, many former Netflix users listed the price as their main incentive for leaving. The service’s average monthly fee has increased significantly over the past few years, leading audiences to switch to more affordable (ad-supported) video streaming options or cut down on subscriptions altogether. Expanding global influence and content catalogs Netflix remains the leading subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service worldwide, outperforming all other international streaming powerhouses and local providers by a significant margin. To maintain its global lead, Netflix allocates impressive sums toward marketing while also expanding its regional content. In 2021, for example, the Seattle-based company opened its first office in Stockholm to serve as a hub for the Nordics region. In addition to that, Netflix also produces more original content outside the U.S. to appeal to its diverse international user base.

According to a survey among internet users conducted in Vietnam by Decision Lab in the second quarter of 2024, around ** percent of the respondents used Netflix as a streaming service. In that period, Netflix was one of the leading streaming services based on penetration rate in the country.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of Peacock's paid subscribers amounted to 36 million. After growing its subscriber base each quarter since 2021, the figure remained stable compared with the previous quarter.

Disney+ has experienced remarkable growth since its launch in November 2019, reaching around 126 million global subscribers in the second quarter of 2025. The streaming service's rapid ascent is particularly noteworthy given that it took Netflix, the current market leader, about a decade to achieve similar customer numbers in a less competitive landscape. Disney's biggest streaming competitor Despite its impressive subscriber base, Disney+ faces stiff competition in the streaming market, particularly among younger viewers. As of October 2023, Netflix remained the most-watched subscription video-on-demand service among U.S. children, capturing 34 percent of the audience, with Disney+ following at 31 percent. To address profitability challenges and retain customers, Disney has implemented strategies such as introducing extra member pricing in various countries, with costs ranging from 3.58 U.S. dollars in Hong Kong to 6.67 U.S. dollars in Italy. Market adaptation In response to the evolving streaming landscape, Disney has adjusted its pricing strategy. In late 2024, the company once again increased its monthly subscription prices for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ in the United States. This move followed significant improvements in the provider's direct-to-consumer streaming segment, with operating losses decreasing substantially between 2022 and 2024. Disney's DTC entertainment business, for example, reported an income of about 143 million U.S. dollars in 2024 after years of making losses, demonstrating that Disney's efforts to achieve profitability seemed to have paid off.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Netflix generated total revenue of over **** billion U.S. dollars, up from about *** billion dollars in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The company's annual revenue in 2024 amounted to around ** billion U.S. dollars, continuing the impressive year-on-year growth Netflix has enjoyed over the last decade. Netflix’s global position Netflix’s revenue has been heavily impacted by its ever-growing global subscriber base. The leading Netflix market is Europe, Middle East, and Africa, surpassing the U.S. and Canada in terms of subscriber count. Netflix has also significantly increased its licensed and produced content assets since 2016. Despite concerns among investors that the company’s content spend was negatively affecting cash flow, Netflix’s plans to amortize its content assets long-term along with generating revenue from other sources such as licensing and merchandise should ensure the company’s future profitability. Netflix’s original content Netflix is also fortunate in that many of its original shows have been a hit with consumers across the globe. Shows such as “Orange is the New Black,” “Black Mirror,” and “House of Cards” won the hearts of subscribers long ago, but newer content such as English-language shows “Bridgerton,” “Wednesday,” and “Stranger Things,” as well as local TV shows such as “Squid Game” have also been favorably reviewed and proved popular among users.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Amazon Prime Video was the most popular subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in the United States with a market share of ** percent, based on the users' interest in adding content to their watch lists of certain streaming platforms. Netflix followed closely with a market share of ** percent. Subscription streaming market – a money-losing business? While subscription streaming platforms increased their subscriber bases in the years 2020 and 2021 due to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 and 2023 saw services such as Netflix and Disney+ lose a substantial number of customers. Furthermore, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses of large media companies are struggling to turn a profit. Paramount, for example, reported a loss of *** billion U.S. dollars for its streaming services in 2023. Streaming companies take action In order to compensate for subscriber and income losses, streaming companies implemented several strategies, such as launching more profitable ad-supported tiers, cracking down on credential sharing, laying off thousands of employees, and spending less on content. The Walt Disney Company was already able to increase DTC profits recently. Its cost-cutting measures include layoffs and savings in content spending by reducing content produced and removing TV shows and movies from its streaming services.

In the third quarter of 2024, Amazon Prime Video had the highest market share among new subscriptions for SVOD platforms in Germany, with around ** percent. This was, however, a significant decrease compared to the same quarter a year before. Other leading streaming services in this ranking included Netflix and Disney+. Figures fluctuated during the specified period.

The content spending of Netflix worldwide amounted to around **** billion U.S. dollars in 2024, down from a targeted ** billion U.S. dollars. According to estimates, Netflix's expenditures on content will likely grow to roughly ** billion U.S. dollars in 2025. Netflix leads SVOD original content spending A forecast suggests that Netflix spent around ***** billion U.S. dollars on its own originals in 2023, ranking fifth among global media companies after Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and Comcast. However, with a share of over ** percent, the streaming giant accounts for the highest amount of SVOD original content spending worldwide. Slowdown in content investments Aside from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Netflix’s content spending fell, its investments in content have steadily increased every year. Production costs of originals, such as “Stranger Things” and “The Crown,” are reaching ever new heights. But the company is expected to plateau its content budget for the next few years, and it is not the only streaming provider that needs to keep their costs low. Following a net loss of over *** billion U.S. dollars in its direct-to-consumer segment in Q1 2023, Disney announced in February 2023 that it would be slashing **** billion U.S. dollars in costs, including both content and non-content cuts, in order to make its streaming business profitable.

As of the first quarter of 2024, the leading streaming service in the Philippines was Netflix, dominating the market with a ** percent share. Netflix was followed by iflix, with a ** percent market share. Video streaming: a growing market in the Philippines Since 2017, there has been steady growth in both the penetration rate and revenue of video streaming services in the country, and this upward trend was forecast to continue for several more years. Adoption of video streaming platforms were boosted by an increasing demand for both local and international shows and video content, usually because of the ability to stream them for numerous hours. Netflix trending throughout Southeast Asia The number of Netflix subscribers in Southeast Asia has increased substantially recently, followed by growth in the company’s revenue in the region. As the number of pay-TV subscriptions is expected to increase in various Asian countries in the near future, streaming services such as Netflix will likely continue their upward trend.