Streaming study

Amazon Prime overtakes Netflix as favorite subscription

Amazon Prime is "in the fast lane" in the battle of the streaming giants.

(Bild: Koshiro - stock.adobe.com)

Anyone with a streaming subscription relies primarily on Amazon Prime. This is the result of a study by management consultants Simon-Kucher on the subject of streaming. According to the study, users are now more likely to opt for the online retailer's video service than Netflix. At the same time, all providers are struggling with poorer price-performance ratings.

Amazon's lead is particularly clear among users who only have a subscription. Here, 43% rely on Amazon Prime and only 29% on Netflix. For users with two streaming subscriptions, the two competitors are on a par. With three subscriptions, Amazon Prime (77%) is once again ahead of Netflix (71%). As the third subscription, however, Disney+ (52%) also scores ahead of an improving RTL+ (21%).

"In the fast lane"
Amazon Prime is "in the fast lane" in the battle of the streaming giants, according to Lisa Jäger, Partner and Managing Partner of Technology, Media & Telco at Simon-Kucher. This could also be due to the fact that Amazon Prime secured victory in the "Best Price" category - presumably due to its bundle offer (premium shipping, exclusive product offers, Amazon Music, Prime Video).

"Price remains the most important purchase criterion," says Jäger. "But a wide selection is becoming increasingly important. Users no longer just look at the price, so good content can also justify high subscription costs."

Netflix scores with content
And Netflix scores particularly well with content. In addition to "Best selection", Netflix won five other categories ("Popular content", "New content", "User-friendliness", "Ad-free", "Automatic recommendations"). Exciting: Disney+ once again dominates in the "Exclusive Content" category, while Apple TV+ wins in "Video Quality", "Platform Variety", "Cancellation Flexibility" and "Discounts for Families/Couples".

"Although we see favorites in each category, the providers are often close together overall," says Jäger. The conclusion? "Providers need to stand out even more from the competition and be less interchangeable."

Price and performance diverge
However, alarm bells should be ringing for all providers when it comes to price-performance ratings. Users rate this as worse for all four major streaming providers compared to the previous year. Disney+ in particular recorded a sharp drop (from 68% to 56%) in the proportion of good to very good ratings. As a result, Amazon Prime leads the ranking this year despite losses (from 65% to 60%). Netflix remains in third place (55%), followed by Apple TV+ in fourth place (52%). "Users are noticing the price increases," says Jäger. "This is punished with lower ratings."

Netflix has the best content, but Amazon has the better price-performance ratio.

(Bild: Simon - Kucher & Partners)

This rating could become even worse in the future. Users are expecting further price increases from almost all streaming giants. Even without taking price increases into account, the intention to cancel is already increasing dramatically. AppleTV+ in particular is facing a wave of cancellations. A full 41% say they are likely to cancel their subscription. With Netflix, one in four (25%) are considering canceling. Disney+ (22%) and Amazon Prime (17%) are getting off more lightly.