Apple TV+ Reportedly Has 36.6 Million Subscribers in the US, Mostly Because It’s Free

BY Asif Shaik

Published 24 Jan 2020

Apple TV+

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple TV+ has an estimated subscriber count of 33.6 million. This puts the user base of the video streaming service from Apple ahead of Hulu and Disney+, which have 31.8 and 23.2 million subscribers respectively.

What’s impressive is that the Apple TV+ service has achieved this number within the first two months of its launch. The publication, however, points out that that the streaming service has managed to get these many subscribers because the brand is offering it for free to everyone who has purchased an iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, or Apple TV streaming box after September 20, 2019, for one year.

So, I guess, we’ll know the actual subscriber count of Apple TV+ only after the Cupertino-based tech giant starts charging for it. Anyway, the user base of the streaming service from Apple is still trailing the number off subscribers of the two market leaders — Netflix and Amazon Prime — which have 61.3 and 42.2 million users respectively.

Oh, by the way, all these figures consider only the users living in the US. The report was actually regarding Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the US.

Our Take

It is easy for Apple to attract more customers to the Apple TV+ since the brand can advertise the service and increase the reach of the platform by pre-loading the video streaming app in its handsets and other devices, which the other brands can’t. Also, Apple is much more popular among people compared to Netflix and Amazon Prime, which gives the Cupertino-based tech giant a head start.