Soon after the South Korean app, MX Player crossed 5 million installs, Times Internet has confirmed they have acquired the major share for $144 million. They want to re-enter the Indian over-the-top segment (if you don’t know Times Internet owned Box TV, which they recently shut down).
The rumors about the acquisition have started doing rounds earlier, in January. At that time, the deal was valued at around $200 million. Now that the actual amount came out, we know it’s $144 million.
Times Internet Buys a Majority Stake in MX Player
You don’t want an introduction to MX Player, especially if you are an Android user. Just a day before the acquisition news came out, the application managed to surpass 500 million installs. So, it’s an impressive sign for the new owners.
Times Internet doesn’t want to just continue what MX Player has been doing for years. We know it can support multiple file types and even stream content from online when URL provided. Maybe, we will see another service coming out of the application.
As Times Internet Ltd. stopped Box TV, there is a chance for them to enter the online streaming industry. If you look at the current trend, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, and Netflix dominate in the industry with the significant number of users.
With the new acquisition, Times Internet wants to leverage over 350 million Indian users of MX Player. If you dig a bit deep into the statistics, you will know the application has more than 175 million monthly active users and 65 million daily active users.
After the acquisition, MX Player will work the same way from the perspective of an end-user. However, the team-behind-the stage changes. By the time the new streaming platform launches, it will have around 20 exclusive shows and 50,000 hours of entertainment spread across multiple languages. Given MX Player is popular in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Iran, it has the potential to gather a huge audience-base.
Going by a report from Frost& Sullivan, India’s OTT (Over-The-Top) industry earned over $37 billion in 2017. Moreover, they predict the market will grow at a compound rate of 17.3% for the next few years.
Let us come back to the new now. Times Internet already has 270 million user base in India. When it gets added to MX Player users, we see the new platform already making it to the top.
What do you think is the ideal pricing for a streaming service? Do you think there is space for a new one? Let us know in the comment section down below.
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