Research shows Apple TV+ will have 36 million subscribers by 2026, Disney+ will lead with 284.2 million

A new research report shows how the popular movie-streaming platforms' subscriber count is predicted to grow in the next five years, reports 9to5Mac, and Apple TV+ could reach 36 million subscribers, but it will still be behind its competitors.

Apple TV+ predicted to reach 36 million subscribers by 2026, while Disney+ -- 284.2 million

The new report by research firm Digital TV Research shows that Apple TV+ is expected to reach nearly 36 million subscribers by the end of 2026. However, this number still means Apple TV+ won't get as popular as its other competitors, namely Disney+ and Netflix. The same paper shows that Disney's streaming service will reach the stunning 284.2 million subscribers by 2026, and will reportedly beat Netflix as the market leader.


Amazon Prime Video, another competitor, is also expected to show significant growth in subscriber count for the same five-year period and is expected to occupy third place with 243.4 million subscribers. The fourth place, according to the report, will be for the Chinese platform iQiyi with 76.8 million expected users, while HBO Max is expected to come in fifth with 76.3 million subs.

Apple TV+ is currently holding a 3% market share, according to another research, and it currently has less than 20 million subscribers. It is expected to grow by about 16 million by 2026 and reach 36 million subscribers.

Apple TV+ working hard to become a better movie streaming platform

So far, Apple TV+ has a bit more than 70 original shows and Cupertino has been aggressively investing into getting leading Hollywood names and well-known personalities to participate in its original content. Examples of names include Sam Catlin, Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, Jon Stewart, Idris Elba, Alfonso Cuaron, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kerry Ehrin, Misha Green, Moshe Zonder, Alon Aranya, and many more.

Apple TV+ debuted back in November of 2019, and several of its official shows became quite popular.


This TV series presents a hypothetical scenario of what would have happened if the global race to the moon had never ended, as well as if the Soviet Union had actually beat the United States to the first crewed moon landing. Season 3 will take place in the future with older versions of Joel Kinnaman as Ed Baldwin, Shantel VanSanten as Karen Baldwin, Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson, and Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison.

Apple's plans for the expansion of the Apple TV+ subscription and presence on the movie and show-streaming platform market is also showing in the fact that recently Roku remotes got an Apple TV+ button alongside the buttons for Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu.

Currently, Apple TV+ can be streamed on Apple devices, smart TVs, consoles, or sticks, of course, with a subscription. If you buy an Apple device, you get a free three-month trial for the service (of course, if you have never used a trial offer for Apple TV+ before). Its monthly subscription costs $4.99 a month, while the service is also included alongside other Apple services in the bundle Apple One, where you can have up to five Apple services for $14.95 a month.