Bad news for Netflix in MENA: while the market is expected to grow from 12 to 26 million subscribers across 13 Arab-origin countries by 2029, the American company's growth will be more limited compared to its Saudi competitor, Shahid VIP.
This projection comes from a study by the British consulting firm Digital TV Research. On one hand, Shahid VIP will overtake streaming leader Netflix, with its subscriber base to rise from 3 million to nearly 6 million by 2029. Netflix which had 3.8 million subscribers at end-2023 is expected to reach 5.6 million subscribers by 2029.
On the other hand, the American VOD StarzPlay is predicted to have subscriber base of 5 million in the next five years, whilst Amazon and Disney+ will have 3.2 million. OSN will climb up to 1.5 million subscribers and Apple TV+ to only rise to 500,000, according to Digital TV Research’s findings.
Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, analyzed the phenomenon:“As some of the US-based platforms lower their global rollout and local content commitments, the Arabic players will thrive," he highlighted.
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