According to Bank of America analysts, the number of Netflix mobile app downloads has soared during the third quarter of 2019. Furthermore, the number of downloads for this streaming provider has increased 18% year on year during this quarter. In response to this note, Netflix shares rose by more than 2% on the day it went out.
The analysts have attributed the rise this year to the release of Stranger Things season three, among other popular summer releases. The third quarter of 2019 saw rises year on year. US downloads are up 6%, while international downloads have increased by 21%.
However, while app downloads are up, this doesn’t necessarily mean the subscriber count has gone up too. During the second quarter, Netflix made a rare announcement that revealed US subscribers had gone down. Furthermore, analysts’ expectations for international paid subscriber adds had not been met. When announcing this drop in numbers, the company had stated that their content library was to blame, but said the release of Stranger Things was a reason to be hopeful for the next quarter.
According to a survey from Cowen & Co, which was released in July, 13% of those who were previously subscribed to Netflix said they would be resubscribing to the service in order to watch Season 3 of Stranger Things. What’s more, almost 5% of consumers who weren’t currently subscribed to the streaming giant revealed their intentions to purchase a subscription in order to watch the show.
Netflix claimed that 40.7 million accounts watched the show in the four days following its debut. This would make the show Netflix’s biggest ever audience for a movie or TV series within this timeframe. However, Netflix is currently bracing itself for the launch of several major streaming services competitors in coming months, such as the November 12 launch of Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max and NBCUniversal in 2020.
Disney+ will launch with a plan which is around half the price of Netflix’s most popular plan, and Disney is also steadily removing its content which currently resides on Netflix. For example, movies from Marvel, Pixar, Disney and Star Wars will all eventually be based on Disney+.
