Amazon Prime now has 150 million members worldwide, the company has announced. This figure puts Amazon close to Netflix’s recently reported stat of more than 167 million users, which saw it expand subscribers internationally but miss out on expected growth in the United States.
Confirming the figures in its Q4 results, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said: “Prime membership continues to get better for customers year after year. And customers are responding – more people joined Prime this quarter than ever before, and we now have over 150 million paid Prime members around the world”.
In addition to growth in users, the company also announced that watch time of Prime Video originals series and movies, such as Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Man in the High Castle,” has doubled. “Prime members watched double the hours of original movies and TV shows on Prime Video this quarter compared to last year, and Amazon Originals received a record 88 nominations and 26 wins at major awards shows,” he detailed.
Fire TV also saw growth, with more than 40 million active users worldwide. This follows a report from Ampere Analysis that one in three users in 16 leading markets now own a streaming box or streaming stick. In the United States, although Netflix is still the key service for Fire TV owners, Amazon device homes are more likely to subscribe to Amazon Prime Video and HBO Now than the average.
The company’s net income increased to $3.3 billion of dollars, while sales grew by 21% to $87 billion.