The current landscape
Netflix remains the dominant global streaming service with approximately 270 million subscribers as of early 2024. Disney+ has around 150 million (down from its 2023 peak, partly reflecting the loss of Indian subscribers from the Hotstar platform), Amazon Prime Video around 200 million but embedded in a broader subscription bundle, and Apple TV+ an estimated 25-30 million (figures not officially disclosed).
The shift from growth to profit
The streaming industry went through a reckoning in 2022 when Netflix reported its first subscriber loss in a decade, triggering a broad market reassessment of the growth-at-any-cost streaming strategy. Share prices of streaming companies fell sharply. Since then, the industry has shifted focus: less spending on marginal content, more focus on profitability, and structural changes including the introduction of advertising tiers and crackdowns on password sharing.
Password sharing crackdowns
Netflix's password-sharing crackdown — which came into full effect in 2023 — was widely expected to trigger subscriber losses. The opposite occurred: hundreds of thousands of previous password-sharers converted to paid plans. Disney+ implemented a similar policy in 2023-2024. The success of these crackdowns has been one of the more significant strategic vindications in the streaming industry's recent history.
Where it goes next
Several dynamics are shaping the near-term future: consolidation (bundles combining multiple services at a discount, live sports rights as differentiator, further M&A), the growing importance of advertising-supported tiers (which offer lower prices to consumers and higher margins to platforms through ad revenue), and the challenge of retaining subscribers in an environment where consumers routinely subscribe, binge and cancel.