Netflix reveals international subscriber numbers as it loses ground to Disney+

Netflix has been saving something special for a rainy day. No, no, it's not some sort of special unreleased episode of Strangers Things or Mindhunter.

It’s international subscriber numbers.

According to Netflix, the streaming service had more than 47 million subscribers across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East at the end of Q3 2019. That’s double the amount of subscribers it had from those regions at the start of 2017.

Netflix also has more than 29 million subscribers in Latin America and over 14 million in Asia for that same time period.

In total, Netflix currently has 158.3 million customers worldwide. Its non-US and Canada markets now make up more than half of its total subscriber base. As Deadline points out, 90 percent of its growth is from these markets outside of the U.S.

Netflix has avoided releasing these numbers for many years, so the timing of this move is certainly notable. In just the past month alone, Netflix has faced brand new, high-profile competitors entering the streaming market like Disney+ and Apple TV+.

According to Variety, analysts say that around 24 million users subscribed to Disney+ in November. Those same analysts estimate that around 1 million customers will cancel their Netflix subscription in Q4 as a result of Disney+’s launch last month.

Earlier this year, Netflix reported its first drop in U.S. subscriber for the first time in almost a decade.

The streaming market will become more challenging for Netflix next year when additional services like HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock launch.

Netflix is now clearly hoping that the international subscriber gains will soften whatever blow it’ll take from the new abundance of streaming services. But, as analysts note, the U.S. and Canadian markets are where it makes the most revenue per subscriber, as it charges less in other markets.

The company is clearly still the leader in the space, so it could probably still "Netflix and chill" for now. But, the streaming industry is rapidly growing and eventually they may have to Netflix and ... figure it out.