Mobile apps for the Disney+ streaming-video service are drawing not just downloads but sustained attention, a new study finds. But we’ll have to stay tuned to see how those trends translate to paid subscriptions.
Apptopia, citing its own app telemetry, reported Monday that Disney+’s iOS and Android apps had been downloaded 15.5 million times in the first 13 days after the service’s highly-anticipated Nov. 12 launch, averaged 25.6 million sessions a day over the previous week, and have driven $5 million in in-app purchases.
Apptopia’s report cites those numbers as signs that “people are highly engaged with the mobile app” but noted that this engagement had yet to eat into viewing time for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and HBO’s mobile apps.
The New York Post determined that Apptopia’s figures meant Disney+ was clocking almost a million new subscribers a day, but the research firm waved off that estimate.
“The NYP made an assumption,” emailed Adam Blacker, vice president for insights and global alliances at Boston-based Apptopia. “One download does not necessarily equal one subscriber. One family could be one subscriber and have multiple downloads.”
Apptopia’s report further noted that most viewing will happen on larger screens. “For this type of service, mobile downloads come second,” it said, with only 32% of Disney+ subscribers downloading mobile apps on the first day. “Most people install Disney+ on their Roku or Apple TV first.”
Disney+ is also available on Amazon’s Fire TV, LG and Samsung connected TVs, Android TV, Chromecast, desktop browsers, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game consoles.
Disney itself cited 10 million sign-ups a day after launching—blowing away MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson’s projection that the service would hit 8 million subscribers worldwide this year.
But that figure includes viewers on free trials and those getting the service free for the first year as part of a deal with Verizon for unlimited-mobile-data subscribers and newcomers to its Fios fiber-optic and 5G fixed-wireless home broadband services.
It’s unclear how many of those viewers will convert to paying subscribers, and Blacker declined to venture any guesses: “It's too early for me to estimate churn.”
Disney+ costs $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year for its mixture of library and original content from a universe of such flagship brands as Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar and Star Wars.
Viewers can also get Disney+ as part of a $12.99 monthly bundle with Hulu and ESPN+. Apptopia’s report noted that it had already seen increased downloads of Hulu and ESPN since the launch of Disney’s OTT service.
Disney spokeswoman Jessica Casano declined to comment in an email, citing financial disclosure regulations.