Disney+, the company’s subscription streaming service that launched in November, now has 50 million subscribers worldwide.
The new total comes out after Disney+, over the past two weeks, rolled out in eight Western European countries including the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland.
Disney+ also became available last week in India, where it is offered in conjunction with the existing Hotstar service, which already accounts for approximately 8 million of Disney+’s 50 million paid subscribers.
“We’re 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,” said Kevin Mayer, chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, in a statement. “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+.”
RELATED: Disney+ already has 28.6M paid subscribers
Disney+ got off to a hot start in the U.S. The company said in its most recent earnings release that Disney+ ended the fiscal first quarter with 26.5 million subscribers. On the ensuing call, former CEO Bob Iger said the service had 28.6 million subscribers as of Monday, February 3.
The 50 million paid subscriber total puts Disney+ well on its way toward meeting the subscriber growth goals set out by Disney last year. The company predicted that Disney+ will grow to between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024. Disney+ is also expected to be profitable by 2024.
Analyst firm MoffettNathanson attempted to measure the global opportunity for Disney+ by comparing and contrasting per capita box office attendance, ticket pricing and Disney’s share of local box office.
“Our work shows that Disney has a meaningful opportunity to penetrate non-U.S. markets – especially in those ‘Clones of the U.S.’ markets where Disney’s content has dominated the box office,” wrote Michael Nathanson in a research note.
The firm predicted the service will add more than 19 million paid subscribers in 2020 with Western Europe and India launches, and more than 23 million paid subscribers in 2021 amid a broader rollout in Eastern Europe, APAC and LATAM markets.