Looks like the streaming service is the most profitable market right now.Netflix318 the pioneer of the idea,while Reed Hastings came up with his original idea of digital streaming,there were no much takers,but look at them now,with 158 million subscribers they are the number 1 streaming service.The name of their competitors themselves are enough to know how far they came;Apple ,Amazon and Disney.
Well the competition was primarily between Netflix and Hulu but Netflix maintained its dominance all the way Hulu falls short in its movie collections and have a less than 28 million subscribers.But Disney's Direct to Consumer wing holds the most stake in Hulu,(looks like the the main movie makers didn't wanted to lose if digital streaming became the next big thing).
The nearest rival is Amazon with amazon prime which provides a cheaper service than Netflix with 98 million subscribers.Amazon additionally provides frees two day shipping for prime members.Amazon is also established in the field
now are the big players who are afresh,Apple and Disney.
Apple is launching its new apple TV,but its a whole different animal.Its not an app but a set top box.But the advantage is that apple have access to iTunes which have tie ups with almost all the studios and creators and thus have a hell lot of content ready for their users.Apple324 also allows streaming of Netflix and Hulu in the service ,so it will open a competition between Netflix and amazon themselves,they also provide content from others like HBO and YouTube.
Disney has started realizing the change of the direction of tide in the entertainment market,with the success of Netflix which is evident from their soaring stock prices.Regret that they were late to the party.Still Disney is strong with their dense archive including all the shows they have produced along with the marvel movies,movies from 20th century fox and couple shows from national geographic.They already have withdrawn their partnership with Netflix which is a loss for Netflix.Its not right to say Disney is new,because Disney's direct to consumer wing has the majority stake in Hulu so they were already in the field even if they were not.
So with the big names entering the game lets also remember the names like blockbuster to whom Netflix went seeking help in the initial stage but was not given and later went in for a competition with Netflix but lost out the game
