Netflix races ahead of homegrown Hotstar to become the top streaming app in India
American streaming platform Netflix has powered ahead of homegrown Hotstar to become the top streaming app by revenue in India for the last 18 months according to App Annie, an insight firm.
Netflix races ahead of homegrown Hotstar to become the top streaming app in India
Hotstar was introduced by Star India in 2015 while Netflix entered India in January, 2016. Netflix rolled out its content subscription plan of INR 500 per month while Hotstar charged a monthly fee of INR 199 to showcase series like Game of Thrones and films.
Mary Meeker's 2017 report showcased India as an emerging Internet superpower, even though only 27% of the country’s population had access to internet, which has given a massive boost to over the top (OTT) players like Netflix and Hotstar.
Jaede Tan, regional director at App Annie (India & Southeast Asia) said: “We’re seeing that Indian users are becoming increasingly engaged with video streaming apps on the back of strong adoption of mobile devices and major improvements to cellular coverage."
"As greater device affordability will be the main driver of increased smartphone adoption and engagement, mobile data will continue to be the dominant mode of access for internet services, including video."
Netflix plans to expand in India, to keep themselves in sync with the pulse of Indian audience, by setting up an office in Mumbai. The Drum spoke to Sameer Nair, who then served as Group CEO of Balaji Telefilms about the future of OTT in India.