by Thinus Ferreira
When The Walt Disney Company launches its Disney+ video streaming service in South Africa in or after June 2022, the Mouse House will have made a thorough price point sensitivity calculation for the market, although it's not yet known what exactly the sticker price for Disney+ will be.
Last month South Africans finally got a local launch date for the country, a year and a half after Disney+ launched in the United States and in other markets around the world.
In August Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek said that Disney+ will launch in South Africa in "summer 2022" which means winter 2022 in Africa, that starts from June.
The Walt Disney Company Africa said that "As confirmed in The Walt Disney Company's Q3 earnings call, Disney+ will launch in South Africa in Winter 2022. We will share more details as we approach the launch next year".
One big remaining question of which an answer remains outstanding, is what Disney+ will cost in a monthly and annual subscription fee in rand.
Switching the currencies of comparative markets and regions to South African rand where Disney already launched Disney+, South Africans can expect Disney to charge roughly around R100 per month - perhaps a little less or maybe a little bit more.
Here is what Disney+ costs now in various countries converted to rand, from cheapest to most expensive, and the discount if a subscriber pays for an annual subscription:
Country Monthly fee Annual fee
Argentina R59 (ARS$385) R588 (ARS$3850)
India R60 (Rs299) R300 (Rs1499)
Brazil R78 (BRL$27.90) R787 (BRL$279.90)
United States R119 ($7.99) R1191 ($79.99)
New Zealand R123 ($11.99) R1232 ($119.99)
Australia R129 ($11.99) R1293 ($119.99)
Singapore R131 (S$11.98) R1311 (S$119.98)
Canada R141 ($11.99) R1415 ($119.99)
Norway R149 (NOK89) R1488 (NOK890)
Sweden R152 (SEK89) R1512 (SEK890)
Europe (euro) R157 (€8.99) R1568 (€89.99)
United Kingdom R164 (£7.99) R1639 (£79.99)
Denmark R185 (DKK79) R1852 (DKK790)
Monthly Disney+ subscription fees in various countries range from as little as R59, to as much as three times more, with Danish subscribers having to fork out over R185 per month in rand terms.
Two things to note: Firstly, the exceptional strength of currencies like the Swedish krona, Danish krone, the euro, and the British pound skew a realistic comparison and should be discarded.
It can be seen in how Disney charges the same "number" of 7.99 in America and also in the United Kingdom although in different currencies. Disney will never charge R130 or more at launch for Disney+ in South Africa.
Secondly, Disney will be doing market research to determine price point sensitivity for the South African consumer finding themselves in a struggling economy in a developing country, and is also mindful that it's a late entrant where established streamers like Netflix SA, Showmax, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and others have gobbled up easy and early video streaming adopters.
With Netflix that has a basic plan of R99 and a standard plan of R139 per month, Showmax with a basic plan of R99, Amazon Prime Video at R89 per month and Apple TV+ at R85 per month, it's realistic to expect that Disney+, when it launches in South Africa, could price pitch somewhere within this price range.
If the Mouse House is "ordinary", Disney+ might cost R119 in South Africa, exactly the same as in America, with the annual subscription fee and discount that is always a factor of 10 (meaning two months free), costing R1191.
If Disney is generous or smart it might also opt for the R99 per month for Disney+ to rival both Netflix SA and Showmax.
Also keep in mind that Disney+ has a smaller content catalogue than Netflix and that Disney+ will also have content gaps and content restrictions at launch in South Africa because of existing multiyear channels and content distribution and licensing deals with MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net meaning that there are shows and content that it won't have.
For this reason, Disney+ should probably peg its price point at launch just below Netflix SA's R99.
Disney+ could also go for slightly less like R89 monthly and R890 annually if it really wants to make a splash in the local market - a price that would place South Africa nicely in-between Brazil - a fellow BRICS country - and America.
All in all, expect to pay roughly around one blue Mandela for Disney+ per month as a South African subscriber when it launches.
