Disney+ Reaches 50 Million Subscribers in Just Five Months

Five months after launching, and with millions of people stuck at home, Disney's streaming service Disney+ now has 50 million subscribers, reports Deadline.


Disney+ in early February had 28.6 million subscribers, which means the streaming service has grown by 21.4 million subscribers in the last two months. Much of the boost can be attributed to recent launches of the service in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, France, Switzerland, and India.

50 million subscribers is ahead of Disney's own figures. When unveiling the service, Disney estimated that it would garner 60 to 90 million subscribers worldwide by the end of 2024, and if growth keeps up, Disney will hit that goal this year.

Apple has not released subscriber numbers, which means there's no direct comparison to Disney+. Since September, Apple has been providing a free year of service to everyone who purchases a new Apple device, so it will take over a year until Apple has large numbers of paying subscribers.

At launch, Disney+ ran promotions for discounted service for multiple years, marking the service down to the equivalent of $3.99, and has provided free Disney+ access to Verizon subscribers. Wit the exception of free trial members and Verizon users, customers with access to Disney+ are paying for it, unlike most ‌Apple TV‌+ subscribers at this time.

Disney+ has a significant edge over ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+ because Disney+ has an established catalog of content along with many popular Star Wars and Marvel franchises. "The Mandalorian," the key show Disney+ premiered with, received more attention than any of ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+'s launch shows, including "The Morning Show," "Dickinson," "See," and "For All Mankind."

Apple could catch up in the future given its huge subscriber base and the large number of people who own an Apple device, but it will be quite some time before Apple can match Disney's content offerings.

Tag: Disney

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Foxconn and Other Chinese Factories Implement Strict Measures to Prevent Another Outbreak

Foxconn and other factories in China have implemented stringent measures to prevent the another viral outbreak in the country, according to an overview of the practices shared today by The Washington Post.

Pages from a manual issued by Foxconn that covers rules employees must follow. Image from The Washington Post.
Apple iPhone supplier Foxconn, for example, has organized workers into teams of 20 who stick together day and night for health tracking purposes. "The same group of employees work, travel, live, and eat together to ensure that employees' personal trajectories are fully traced," reads a notice from the Zhengzhou government where Foxconn is located.

A Foxconn employee told The Washington Post that workers are provided with a face mask and have their temperatures checked regularly, plus there are infrared cameras to check people for fevers as they walk by. Foxconn said that it is also using nucleic acid tests and chest x-rays when required, and it has produced 10 million surgical masks for employees.

At lunchtime, Foxconn workers eat at cafeteria tables separated from one another by tall dividers. Cafeteria seats even have QR codes that workers can scan so Foxconn has a record of who sat where and when for meals. In the dormitories where they sleep, employees leave their coats and bags in a designated spot for disinfection.

Foxconn and other Apple factories were shut down for much of February due to the outbreak, which has now largely resolved in China. China is mandating that employers check temperatures and provide face masks to employees, as well as submitting daily reports on workers' health statuses. Many businesses in the United States may need to take similar steps when stay at home orders around the country begin lifting.

Other companies in China have implemented similar measures, including preventing employees from leaving factories and going home in some cases, with additional details available in The Washington Post's full report.

Tag: Foxconn

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Evidence of 10,000-Year-Old Crops Points to the Amazon as an Early Agricultural Hotspot

Archaeologists have pinpointed four independent regions where humans first began cultivating crops: China, the Middle East, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. We can now add southwestern Amazonia to this exclusive list, owing to new evidence of plant domestication in the region.

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Chinese Retailers Slashing iPhone 11 Prices to Entice Reluctant Customers

Multiple third-party resellers in China are offering discounts on the iPhone 11 lineup this week, with savings up to an equivalent of $227 off a high-end iPhone 11 Pro Max, according to the South China Morning Post.

On JD.com, the 64GB version of the basic ‌iPhone 11‌ now costs 4,999 yuan (US$708), 500 yuan (US$70) cheaper than the original price. The more expensive iPhone 11 Pro has an even steeper price cut that shaves off 1,200 yuan (US$170). And the top-tier ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ is selling for a whopping 1,600 yuan (US$227) off.

The savings are likely passed on by Apple in an attempt to bolster demand during a time when consumer confidence and spending is lower, although the company declined to comment on whether it had authorized the price cuts and ‌iPhone 11‌ prices on Apple's Chinese website have not been reduced.

Chinese resellers offered similar discounts on iPhone XS and iPhone XR models in early 2019, shortly after Apple lowered its revenue guidance for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year due to fewer iPhone upgrades than it had anticipated, particularly in the Greater China region.

Related Roundups: iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro

Tag: China

Buyer's Guide: iPhone 11 (Neutral), iPhone 11 Pro (Neutral)

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Deals: Apple's 10.2-Inch iPad Discounted by $50 at Amazon This Week (Starting at $279 for 32GB)

Amazon has a few notable discounts on Apple's 10.2-inch iPad from 2019, in both 32GB and 128GB sizes for the Wi-Fi only option. For the 32GB iPad, you'll find a sale price of $279.00, down from $329.00 ($50 off).

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This is currently the best price for this model among the major Apple resellers online, although it isn't quite the lowest price we've ever tracked. Both the Space Gray and Gold options are being discounted, but Gold will ship faster and arrive by the end of the month.

$50 OFF

$279.00 From Amazon

For the 128GB Wi-Fi iPad, Amazon is discounting this tablet to $379.99, down from $429.00 ($50 off). This price is being matched at Best Buy, and is another best price available online at the moment. Both Space Gray and Silver are on sale at Amazon, with the former available to ship today.

For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

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