Disney+ gets off to hot start in Europe with over five million downloads in first day

The Disney+ app attracted over five million downloads in its first 24 hours of availability across Europe claims third-party figures.

According to App Annie, which measures and monitors app downloads, the app was downloaded millions of times across the UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland – with the French rollout delayed until April 7. The firm estimated that Germany was the most popular market for the app, followed by the UK, Spain and Italy.

The figure even surpasses the US launch, where the app was only downloaded three million times in the day following its launch.

In its report, App Annie said: “With schools closed, parents will be looking for ways to keep their children occupied. Disney+, with its array of kid-friendly programs, might be part of the solution for many households.”

Attributing the app’s initial success solely to the coronavirus is doing it something of a disservice though, with the firm also saying that Disney+ is the 7th ranked non-gaming app by consumer spend worldwide so far in 2020 which, it says, is “particularly impressive considering that this performance was based on only 5 markets, with the US being the main driver of consumer spend.”

The report goes on to say that usage of the Disney+ app has been comparable to other streaming services, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes per month in the app. Netflix is markedly ahead with 4 hours and 20 minutes per month, but it is close to other Disney-owned streamer Hulu, which sees average usage of 3 hours and 20 minutes per month.

App Annie concludes that should the adoption rate be similar to that of the service in the US, “it would make Disney+ one of the largest streaming services by monthly active users in every European market it launched in.”

Disney+ launched on March 24 with over 500 films and more than 350 series, including 26 originals. It is available for £5.99/€6.99 per month, or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription.