Dark clouds seemed to hang over video streaming services last month. According to a Bank of America research note citing data from Sensor Tower, there was a combined 4% decline in downloads and monthly active users (MAU) during April, Reuters reports.

Speaking of individual numbers, Netflix saw a 6% drop in downloads and an 8% drop in MAU, respectively. The number of downloads for Disney+ decreased by 26% and MAU by 10%. On the other hand, Warner Bros Discovery has seen success with around 11.8 million downloads and 48.6 million MAUs, achieving year-over-year as well as month-over-month growth.

According to the report, some analysts attribute the slowdown in growth to a drop in demand after the pandemic-era boom and saturation in several markets, particularly in the US.

What’s more, the competitive fire ignited by Netflix has prompted other streaming services to initiate password-sharing cracking and offer cheaper, ad-supported versions. Something that could be seen as a “weakness” and could turn customers away.

Streaming companies are also investing in international expansion, streaming sports and raising the prices of their services, the report said.

Netflix, an early adopter of password sharing, managed to add over 9 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2024. This comes after it raised prices for some of its shows last year, with the Premium subscription now costing $22.99 a month. in the United States.

Its starting price in the US is now $6.99 a month for the Standard plan with ads, which the company defended by saying it was “extremely competitive with other streamers” and “much less than the average price of a single movie ticket.”

Netflix started turning every stone a few years back when it missed growth forecasts and its number of subscribers fell for the first time in a decade. It was reported that about a million subscribers left the company between April and June 2022, although it is on the road to recovery.

source: Reuters