In the first official confirmation of numbers from the company, Disney+ has announced that it has managed to surpass 50 million paid subscribers globally.
Disney+ launched in India on April 3 in collaboration with Hotstar, a streaming platform owned by Star India. Star India is a part of the 21st Century Fox group, the company which Disney acquired in 2019 for a staggering $71 billion, in what became one of the biggest media deals globally.
The Walt Disney Company reported, “Disney+ became available last week in India, where it is offered in association with the existing Hotstar service, and already accounts for approximately eight million of Disney+’s 50 million paid subscribers.”
Kevin Mayer, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International said, "We are truly humbled that Disney+ is resonating with millions around the globe, and believe this bodes well for our continued expansion throughout Western Europe and into Japan and all of Latin America later this year,".
Mayer added, "Great storytelling inspires and uplifts, and we are in the fortunate position of being able to deliver a vast array of great entertainment rooted in joy and optimism on Disney+".
Disney+ originally set a target of 60 million to 90 million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024, when it was first launched in the US in November.
Disney+ garnered 26.5 million subscribers during the first quarter of 2020 in February. The new numbers indicate that Disney+ added 21.4 million subscribers in just over two months.
Netflix, the leader in the segment, announced that it has reached 167 million global subscribers in January.
Furthermore, Disney+ launched in several new locations like the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland just a couple weeks back. New users in these areas are bound to have an effect on the platform’s presence in the streaming market, helping the numbers reach even greater heights.