Disney on Thursday announced that its Disney+ streaming platform has hit 94.9 million paid subscribers as of its first quarter of 2021.
Credit: Disney+
The entertainment giant made the announcement in its December quarter earnings report. Previously, in December 2020, Disney+ had 86.8 million paid subscribers, meaning the platform gained about 8 million customers in two months.
Initially, Disney+ set an initial subscriber goal of 60 to 90 million by 2024. Back in November 2020, the company already exceeded that goal with 73.7 million subscribers. Now, it expects to have about 230 million to 260 million by 2024.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Disney+ saw exceptional growth. At one point near the start of the global health crisis, the premium streaming service gained 16.5 million customers in just 10 days.
The strong subscriber growth in the year or so since launch has pushed the company heavily into the streaming industry. In October, Disney began to reorganize its business to shift primary focus to online streaming.
Apple, for its part, launched its Apple TV+ service a few weeks before Disney+. However, Apple's streaming service doesn't seem to have hit the same level of success.
The Cupertino company hasn't announced specific subscriber numbers for the service, but during its last earnings call, it reported that it has eclipsed the 600 million paid subscription mark across all of its services.