Asia Pacific will have 746 million SVOD subscriptions by 2027, up from 541 million in 2021, according to new data from Digital TV Research. China will have 364 million SVOD subscriptions in 2027 – or 49% of the region’s total –, while India will add 92 million to reach 176 million by that year.
“The six major US-based platforms (Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, HBO Max, Prime Video and Apple TV+) will only control a quarter of Asia Pacific’s SVOD subscriptions by 2027, much lower than in any other region in the world. These platforms will never gain access to China and India has plenty of local players,” commented Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research.
Disney+ overtook Netflix in subscriber terms in 2020, almost entirely due to its success in India. In fact, Disney+ Hotstar reshaped the SVOD landscape in India, mainly by controlling the rights to India Premier League cricket. However, Disney+ Hotstar did not retain the IPL rights from 2023. According to Digital TV Research, the platform will lose 4.5 million subscribers in 2022 and 10 million in 2023 before plateauing.
Assuming that Disney+ retained the India Premier League rights in India, the previous forecasts estimated 127 million Disney+ subscribers across the region by 2027. Digital TV Research forecasts predict 66 million by 2027 – 61 million less.