Is Netflix losing popularity amid looming threats from Apple, Disney?

on-going streaming war between Netflix and its competitors is w gaining steam, and it is clearly t in favour of Reed Hastings-led streaming giant. Subscriber growth for Netflix continues to plummet ahead of high-volt competition from Apple and Walt Disney.

Netflix has released its quarterly results and numbers show a significant drop in subscriber growth, particularly in US, furr indicating golden days for company may be numbered. Between July 2019 to September 2019, Netflix added 6.8 million subscribers worldwide, as opposed to 7 million that Netflix anticipated.

In US, only 520,000 were added as opposed to 800,000 that Netflix anticipated. During previous quarter, Netflix lost 123,000 subscribers in US, marking its first decrease in eight years.

latest miss on U.S. subscriber growth “spells trouble for company ahead of heightened competition,” said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom. “ fourth quarter represents a completely new ballgame for Netflix.”

What could be issue?

Uncertainty about Netflix’s future growth could be reason why Netflix's stock had dropped by about 30% below its peak price of $423.21 reached 16 months ago. Netflix expects to add ar 7.6 million worldwide subscribers during final three months of year as opposed to 8.8 million during same period last year.

“ launch of se new services will be isy,” Netflix advised in its third-quarter letter to shareholders. “re may be some modest headwind to our near-term growth, and we have tried to factor that into our guidance.”

Netflix heads into a showdown with slowing subscriber growth

Competition

It remains to be seen wher some of Netflix's existing subscribers ditch service in favour of cheaper alternatives that Apple and Disney. Both companies will launch ir streaming service within next month. Netflix’s most popular plan in US costs $13 per month. While Apple is charging only $5 per month for its service, Disney is selling a service for just $7 per month.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ackwledged this week that a US price increase imposed earlier this year is causing some current subscribers to cancel service and perhaps causing some prospective subscribers to shy away.

Apple TV+ launches full-blown price war, Netflix stock fell 2 per cent

“re’s a little more sensitivity, we are starting to see a little touch of that,” Hastings said during a discussion about third quarter. “What we have to do is just really focus on service quality, make us must-have.”

(With AP inputs)