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According to an online survey conducted in Japan in November 2024, Amazon Prime Video was used by ** percent of the respondents. It was the most widely used paid video streaming service in Japan, ahead of Netflix and U-Next.

The Japanese video streaming market

Paid video streaming services constitute a growing market in Japan. This is reflected, for instance, by the share of people who use paid video streaming services, which increased considerably in recent years. While it took some time for the market to take off, it became increasingly contested after Netflix and Amazon Prime Video started their operations in September 2015. Disney followed with its own service in 2019. Next to these global players, a number of domestic services exist, such as U-Next, Lemino, and Wowow On-Demand. According to an estimate of the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market that was based on user fees, Netflix was the leading service in terms of market share.

Growing influence of online media

The growth of video streaming services is emblematic for current developments in the Japanese media industry. While many traditional media forms, such as broadcasting and newspapers, are stagnating or declining, the online media content market continues to grow. While on-demand video streaming services are still relatively small compared to some of the more traditional media, they constitute an attractive market with high growth potential. Netflix, for instance, invests heavily in the production of new content by cooperating with local content producers in order to gain an advantage over its competitors. The growth of the market goes hand in hand with other technological developments, such as the spread of smartphones and improved internet connections.