Apple is continuing to aggressively invest in its Apple TV+ streaming service. While the platform continues to lag quite far behind its competitors, the investment is paying off, even as its main competitor Netflix is losing ground.
Apple TV+’s market share in the United States is still far behind that of its major competitors, with only a 5% market share. However, according to a report by JustWatch and shared by 9to5Mac, the Apple TV+ market share grew by 1% in the United States during Q4 2021.
While the streaming service has a larger subscriber count than Paramount+, the gap between Apple’s streaming service and its bigger competitors, including Disney+ and HBO Max, is huge.
HBO Max has 12% of the streaming share in the United States, while Hulu and Disney+ (both owned by Disney) hold a 13% market share each. Amazon Prime Video held second place with a 19% share. As you might expect, Netflix sits in the catbird seat with 25%. However, Netflix has seen its number of subscribers drop by 2% compared to the previous quarter.
Apple TV+ grew by 2% during 2021, which is a record for the platform. At the same time, both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have been losing ground to their competitors.
In 2021, the SVOD market saw extreme growth in competition. Apple TV+ ended the year on its highest market share to date, and added 2% throughout the year. Netflix and Prime Video continually lost market share as other platforms such as HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ gained momentum. Adding +5%, HBO Max had the most successful year in 2021.
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung, LG, Sony and VIZIO smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, or iPod touch can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. This special offer is good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device.