According to new data coming from IHS Markit, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are struggling to compete with local video on-demand providers in the MENA region.
According to IHS Markit’s Home Entertainment Research Analyst, Max Signorelli, though both firms launched their services in MENA in 2016, combined they will only account for an estimated 21% of the overall subscription video market in 2017.
Poor localisation in the early stages has been attributed to the streaming giant’s lacklustre performance in the region.
MENA accounts for 6% of the global population, but out of 84 million households, there are predicted to be just 1.3 million VoD subscribers in the region by the end of 2017. According to the IHS report, subscribers in the region are predicted to grow by a CAGR of 35% between now and 2021, up to 4.2 million. However, this will still only represent 1% of total global VoD subscribers.
Low income of citizens living outside of the Gulf is believed to be a factor in the poor uptake of VoD in the region.
MBC’s Shahid Plus and Starz Play are currently the two top players in the MENA subscription video market.
