SVoD market share Japan 2020, by service
According to a report published by GEM Partners in February 2021, Netflix was the leading subscription video on demand (SVoD) service in Japan in 2020, achieving a market share of about 19.5 percent. The estimated value of the SVoD market in Japan amounted to 323.8 billion Japanese yen in 2020, up from 239.2 billion yen in the previous year. According to the estimate, which was based on user fees paid to service operators and excluded advertising revenues, Netflix managed to increase its market share by 5.7 percent within a single year.
Netflix in Japan
Netflix entered the Japanese streaming market in fall 2015, making it the first Asian market the company ventured into. According to news reports, Netflix expected Japan to be one of the slowest markets to penetrate due to the brand sensitivity of Japanese audiences. At the same time, this brand sensitivity was seen as a key to long-term payoffs once the service was embraced by Japanese consumers. In order to achieve this, the company in recent years secured long-term partnership deals with Japanese content creators. Notably among them are several high-profile anime studios, whose products are also seen as a way to counter Disney, which established its own streaming service in Japan in early 2019. Other shows featuring domestic content include Terrace House, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and The Naked Director. A lack of local content is considered to be one of the factors that hampered Hulu's initial uptake when it started its operations in Japan back in 2011.
The Japanese video streaming market
Video streaming has become an increasingly contested business in Japan as the market has shown strong growth figures in the recent years. One source estimated that the combined market of SVoD, transaction video on demand (TVoD), and electronic sell-through (EST) almost doubled in size between 2015 and 2019. The number of subscription video on demand service users in Japan was expected to increase to almost 21 million people by 2021. The preferred device to access streaming videos as of February 2019 was the smartphone, which was closely followed by the PC.
Netflix in Japan
Netflix entered the Japanese streaming market in fall 2015, making it the first Asian market the company ventured into. According to news reports, Netflix expected Japan to be one of the slowest markets to penetrate due to the brand sensitivity of Japanese audiences. At the same time, this brand sensitivity was seen as a key to long-term payoffs once the service was embraced by Japanese consumers. In order to achieve this, the company in recent years secured long-term partnership deals with Japanese content creators. Notably among them are several high-profile anime studios, whose products are also seen as a way to counter Disney, which established its own streaming service in Japan in early 2019. Other shows featuring domestic content include Terrace House, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and The Naked Director. A lack of local content is considered to be one of the factors that hampered Hulu's initial uptake when it started its operations in Japan back in 2011.
The Japanese video streaming market
Video streaming has become an increasingly contested business in Japan as the market has shown strong growth figures in the recent years. One source estimated that the combined market of SVoD, transaction video on demand (TVoD), and electronic sell-through (EST) almost doubled in size between 2015 and 2019. The number of subscription video on demand service users in Japan was expected to increase to almost 21 million people by 2021. The preferred device to access streaming videos as of February 2019 was the smartphone, which was closely followed by the PC.
