India’s streaming market is booming, and things may get more heated than they currently are as Netflix and Apple compete for a piece of it. Netflix joined forces with a director of Bollywood feel-good blockbusters. Meanwhile, Apple launched its TV platform for 99 rupees (about ₦500 or $1.39) a month.
Netflix recently announced a long-term partnership with Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment. They aim to make a range of new fiction and non-fiction series and films for the platform.
Johar so far directed eight films including “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” with Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, and “Raazi”. “Raazi” got a nomination for best picture at next week’s Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, dubbed the Bollywood Oscars.
“It’s going to be P.H.A.T — pretty hot and tempting,” said Johar. His Dharma Entertainment is one of India’s biggest production firms. The production firm also teamed up with Netflix for the successful “Lust Stories” anthology.
Netflix launched in India in 2016 and two of its Indian-made series have won critical acclaim. One of them is “Sacred Games” starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and “Leila” with Huma Qureishi.
But Netflix faces stiff competition in Asia’s third-largest economy as Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney’s Hotstar, Alt Balaji and other local platforms jostle for digital subscriptions and eyeballs.
US technology giant Apple on Wednesday announced the launch of its streaming platform Apple TV+ in India, hoping to upend competition, especially with Netflix.
Netflix is available in India from 199 rupees (about ₦1,000) a month. Also, as millions of first-time users access internet in Asia’s third-largest economy, analysts expect competition to intensify.
Experts expect India’s video-streaming industry to grow at nearly 22% per annum to 119 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) by 2023 according to consultancy PwC.
Netflix chief Reed Hastings has said the company’s goal is 100 million customers in India. This is almost 25 times its estimated subscriber base there as of this year.