If these US streaming service market stats are accurate, Apple TV+ is already a success

Apple has yet to reveal subscriber count for its recently launched Apple TV+ service, but The Wall Street Journal today published some pretty interesting numbers suggesting that Apple’s original video offering, which debuted on November 1, 2019, is already a success.

Ampere Analysis did a survey focusing on the US customer base by streaming service in the fourth quarter of last year. Looking at their numbers, Apple TV+ had more subscribers than Hulu and Disney+! These are just estimates that Ampere based on company filings, public disclosures and other sources so take them with a grain of salt.

These were the major players in the US streaming service market during the holiday quarter:

  • Netflix: 61.3 million subscribers
  • Amazon Prime: 42.2 million subscribers
  • Apple TV+: 33.6 million subscribers
  • Hulu: 31.8 million subscribers
  • Disney+: 23.2 million subscribers

Importantly, although many of these services offer the free trial option, Apple is the only one offering twelve full months of Apple TV+ to everyone who bought an eligible device like an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch after September 10, 2019. And with such aggressive marketing, it doesn’t come as a surprise that people would sign up for Apple TV+ for free.

As Daring Fireball’s John Gruber commented:

Apple wants people to take advantage of it — it’s the answer to the question of how you launch a paid streaming service with no content other than 11 original shows. Make Apple TV+ a habit now, get paid later. Apple can afford to be patient.

For those wondering, Disney’s streaming thing didn’t launch until November 12, halfway through the quarter, and Apple TV+ debuted on November 1.

Whether Disney+ eventually takes the number one spot on this list remains to be seen. I’d say that’s a reasonable assumption to make given the breadth of premium entertainment that’s available on Disney+ in exchange for just seven bucks per month.

TUTORIAL: How to get free access to Apple TV+

On the flip side, Disney has the same problem as Apple — their product is limited to original programming whereas Netflix offers both original shows and licensed content.

Last but not least, Apple’s “buy any Apple device, get a free year of TV+” promotion is expiring soon: a little more than a month ago, the Cupertino tech giant began notifying customers to redeem the offer within the next 90 days or it’ll be too late.

What streaming services are you subscribed to?

Let us know in the comments down below!

Image: the Apple TV app on Roku