​ Disney Plus isn’t a ‘Netflix killer,’ but other streamers like Apple should be worried

 

Disney unveiled its Netflix rival, Disney Plus, recently and some industry observers dubbed it a “Netflix killer.”

However, in this brief analysis, Celestine Achi, the Founder of DigitalPR-Wire argues that the streaming market won’t have one winner, and as Netflix is the clear No. 1, Disney Plus is much more of a threat to services from Apple and WarnerMedia.

He writes: Disney’s aggressive pricing of Disney Plus (and Hulu) also validates Netflix’s emphasis on achieving global scale as quickly as possible.

Netflix’s brand has become an important part of the pop-culture fabric, and while losing third-party content like Disney’s will be painful, it’s not an existential threat anymore.

On Thursday, Disney unveiled the key details of its coming streaming service, Disney Plus, and in the aftermath the phrase “Netflix killer” got thrown around in articles and on social media.

It’s easy to see why.

Disney Plus has an attractive price point ($6.99 a month, or $69.99 a year) and the kind of blue-chip intellectual property that other entertainment companies dream about. Shouldn’t Netflix CEO Reed Hastings be shaking in his boots right about now?

The answer is “no,” and there’s a simple reason. The word “killer” carries with it the implication that in this mortal combat, only one streamer can survive. But that’s not how the streaming market has worked so far.

The streaming market is still a free-for-all, but when the dust settles most industry executives and analysts I talk to expect the average consumer to subscribe to two to four services.