Netflix Steps Up Its Game as Disney+ Hotstar Readies for SE Asian Market

Southeast Asia is estimated to have generated $600 million in overall subscription music and video revenue in 2019, according to a study by Google, Temasek Holdings and Bain & Co — but that's set to explode to an annual $3 billion by 2025, the study said.

Starting with India in August 2019, Netflix has now launched mobile-only plans in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia - all priced at below $5 a month.

That's a departure for Netflix, which has held firm on pricing in Western markets.

Repeated coronavirus lockdowns across Southeast Asia have also increased the appetite for content streaming at home across the region.

A Netflix spokeswoman told Reuters that the firm "has well over 1 million subscribers in multiple Southeast Asian countries", but declined to provide details.

Consultancy Media Partners Asia estimates that Southeast Asia video streaming service subscribers will reach 14.7 million in all by the end of 2020.

Read also: Indonesian President Jokowi: ASEAN Must be Subject of Global Politics

Netflix executive Arora said his firm is also working to expand its payment options in countries with low credit and debit card penetration.

In markets like the Philippines, subscribers can pay for Netflix through their mobile telephone plans, or by purchasing prepaid Netflix cards at convenience stores.

The company faces competition in the region not just from Disney+, a distant, but ambitious, global no. 2 in the industry.