Coupang Play outpaces streaming rivals

A monthly user analysis by WiseApp shows Coupang Play boasted 6.34 million total subscribers in August. (WiseApp)

Korean streaming platform Coupang Play has showed the fastest year-on-year subscriber growth in the country, outpacing other local and global competitors to reach a milestone 6 million subscribers last month, less three years since its launch, according to a ranking announced by WiseApp on Friday.

A total of 6.34 million people were subscribing to Coupang Play as of last month, according to WiseApp, which analyzes user behavior of mobile applications, in its August analysis of the number of subscribers for each streaming platform in South Korea.

Despite being a relatively new player to the streaming market, Coupang Play is the first local platform to reach 6 million users, in a country of some 51 million.

From to a year prior, it gained 2.32 million new users, the largest growth among such platforms at home in the same period.

Disney+ followed in second place with 1.03 million added users, followed by Tving, Netflix and Wavve.

On the other hand, the number of Watcha users plummeted by 230,000.

Coupang Play now ranks third in the domestic streaming market in terms of the number of users, achieved primarily by broadcasts of sporting events and original programming such as "SNL Korea."

It also boasts a relatively cheap subscription rate of 4,990 won per month ($3.75), which provides not only unlimited streaming, but also premium member status to its e-commerce platform Coupang and discounts via food delivery app Coupang Eats, leading to low rate of subscription cancellations.

By Mun So-jeong(munsojeong@heraldcorp.com)