The world’s largest subscription video streaming service, Netflix, is losing market share in Africa to Amazon Prime and Showmax.
Netflix held 40% of African streaming in 2021. However, fresh industry data suggests market share loss. Omdia’s survey reported that Showmax currently holds 40% of Africa’s streaming business, making the California-based corporation less relevant than it was (35%).
As additional competitors improve and join the region, Netflix loses market share—no longer the market leader in streaming services.
Showmax is the market leader, with 1.8 million users. Due to its concentration on local programming, Showmax CEO Marc Jury says the streaming service has attracted 26% more paid customers every year for the past four years. The corporation put aside $1 billion to manufacture and buy material on the continent in 2023.
An industry analytics firm, Digital TV Research, estimated 41 million pay-TV subscribers in Africa in 2022, with less than 10% streaming. In the last three years, Netflix and MultiChoice’s Showmax have acquired new consumers by investing in new programming and lowering membership fees. The market maintained its modest pace.
In December 2022, IrokoTV, Africa’s oldest streaming service, had 46,000 active customers, a 76% drop from January. The firm had invested $30 million in Nigeria but had not profited, according to IrokoTV CEO Jason Njoku.
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Netflix’s African expansion
Netflix entered Africa in 2016, quickly gaining a few hundred thousand users, forcing market leader MultiChoice to prepare for greater competition. The market has expanded slowly despite Amazon Prime Video and NBC Universal’s Peacock’s entrance to the continent due to broadband fees, steady internet, and low income.
The streaming video-on-demand sector in Africa is predicted to increase by 10.4% annually, but Netflix is expected to grow by half as other platforms take over its decreasing user base.
Netflix licenses Nigeria’s Black Book from local studios and produces original content like The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi in Africa. According to an April Netflix report, this two-pronged technique cost $175 million in six years. Nigeria won $23 million for the most licensed content in Africa, while South Africa got $125 million. The last two years have seen Netflix make over $230 million, recouping its investment.
Netflix has gained 1.2 million customers in four years after reaching 400,000 in two years on the continent. With 73.3% of Netflix subscribers, South Africa is its largest market. According to Omdia Research, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has a modest market for the streaming service at 10.5% despite marketing and content acquisition efforts.
Netflix fears subscriber stagnation in established markets like the US and Europe. It has expanded internationally to offset domestic market declines. Due to price cuts in several African regions in the first quarter, the platform is increasing in Africa despite slowing subscriber growth in mature markets like the US. The streaming platform’s revenue rose 13.7% to $135 million in 2022 due to 6.8% user growth.
Omdia stated that limited credit and debit card penetration in several locations has hindered Netflix’s subscriber growth, affecting how Africans pay for the streaming platform.