RealPlayer Cloud tops 8M users; discounted offer includes 365 GB storage space

RealNetworks is continuing its pivot from a PC-centric, integrated video player to a service provider with broader online offerings. The company announced that RealPlayer Cloud, its signature video upload and sharing service launched a year ago, has passed 8 million registered users.

RealPlayer Cloud Android app

RealPlayer Cloud's app for Android smartphones. (Source: RealNetworks)

The service, which allows users to shoot their own video, upload it from their devices and share it privately with others, is available in at least 40 countries. It has also increased the devices on which it's available: from an initial six platforms, RealPlayer Cloud is integrated into 12 platforms, including Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chromecast, Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Fire TV, Roku and its latest launch on Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) Mac computers as a native OS X application. An Xbox One integration is "imminent," the company said.

As part of its first-birthday celebration, RealNetworks is offering new users 365 GB of cloud storage for $4.99 per month, the company announced Monday.

RealNetworks has compiled some interesting stats on its cloud service's first year.  Computers are still the most popular platforms to watch RealPlayer Cloud videos, followed by smartphones, used by 61 percent of its subscribers. Tablets are used by a distant 29 percent of subs to view videos, reflecting a bigger viewer trend in online video.

Peak usage of RealPlayer Cloud takes place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the United States, the company said. The most active users watch an average of 23 videos per month via the platform and upload seven videos on average per month.

Chromecast owners who also subscribe to RealPlayer Cloud are enthusiastic about casting their videos to a bigger screen: 96 percent of those who have a Chromecast use it to play their videos on a TV screen.

Additionally, 86 percent of videos shared by RealPlayer Cloud subs are shared out to non-subscribers--boosting the service's visibility and the potential for new subscribers.

"People love taking their personal videos and watching their life's moments on the big screen," said Jeff Chasen, vice president of product and software at RealNetworks, in a corporate release. "So, as more people discover digital media streaming, we will be interested to see how our fans' habits change and what devices they favor."

RealNetworks has been navigating a tricky turnaround over the past few years. Rob Glaser, who founded the pioneering video streaming provider in 1994 and left it in 2010, returned as interim CEO in 2012 to give the foundering company new direction. He accepted the role of permanent CEO at the end of July, saying that he needed to stick around because the company's changes aren't yet complete. "We are at the midway part of the turnaround and have fixed the product part, so the next steps are critical," he told Re/code last summer.

For more:
- see the press release

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