SVOD market share Japan 2023, by service
According to a report published by GEM Partners in February 2024, Netflix was the leading subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in Japan in 2023. The service held a market share of 21.7 percent during that year. The estimated value of the domestic SVOD market amounted to 505.4 billion Japanese yen in 2023, up from 450.8 billion yen in 2022. According to the estimate, which was based on user fees paid to service operators and excluded advertising revenues, Netflix's market share slightly decreased compared to the previous year.
Netflix in Japan
Netflix entered the Japanese streaming market in September 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 secured long-term partnership deals with Japanese content creators throughout the years. Notably among them were several high-profile anime studios, whose products were also seen as a way to counter Disney. Other shows featuring domestic content include "The Naked Director," "Terrace House," and "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo." 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 recent years. One major reason for this development can be found in the entry of several foreign services into the Japanese market, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video both launching in 2015, DAZN following in 2016, and Disney joining the competition in early 2019. One source estimated that the combined market of SVOD, transaction video-on-demand (TVOD), and electronic sell-through (EST) more than tripled in size between 2015 and 2022. A strong growth can also be seen in the share of people who use SVOD services. As a result, the average time people spend on watching video-on-demand (VOD) per weekday has increased significantly compared to the mid-2010s.
Netflix in Japan
Netflix entered the Japanese streaming market in September 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 secured long-term partnership deals with Japanese content creators throughout the years. Notably among them were several high-profile anime studios, whose products were also seen as a way to counter Disney. Other shows featuring domestic content include "The Naked Director," "Terrace House," and "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo." 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 recent years. One major reason for this development can be found in the entry of several foreign services into the Japanese market, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video both launching in 2015, DAZN following in 2016, and Disney joining the competition in early 2019. One source estimated that the combined market of SVOD, transaction video-on-demand (TVOD), and electronic sell-through (EST) more than tripled in size between 2015 and 2022. A strong growth can also be seen in the share of people who use SVOD services. As a result, the average time people spend on watching video-on-demand (VOD) per weekday has increased significantly compared to the mid-2010s.
