Snapchat’s premium subscription service, Snapchat+, has crossed a significant milestone, amassing over 5 million paying subscribers, the company announced on Thursday.
Key Highlights:
- Snapchat+ reaches 5 million paying subscribers, a significant milestone since its launch last June.
- The premium service aims to diversify Snapchat’s revenue streams beyond advertising.
- Snapchat+ offers exclusive features like generative AI tools and unique Bitmoji customizations to attract users.
- The success of Snapchat+ contrasts sharply with Twitter’s X Premium, which is estimated to have less than one million subscribers.
This comes after the service, which was launched in June of last year, garnered 3 million sign-ups by April. While this is just a fraction of Snapchat’s 750 million monthly users, it marks a notable achievement for the company as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams.
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Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has been vocal about his “medium-term goal” of reaching 10 million paying users for Snapchat+. To attract subscribers, the company has leveraged generative AI tools and other exclusive features. Initially, tools like the MyAI chatbot and the generative AI selfie feature were only available to paying subscribers of the $4-a-month service. Additional perks, such as the ability to see how many times friends view your Story and exclusive Bitmoji customizations, are designed to appeal to Snapchat’s most engaged users.
The success of Snapchat+ stands in stark contrast to Twitter’s X Premium service, which has been a focal point of Elon Musk’s strategy to rejuvenate the struggling social media platform. Although Twitter has not officially released subscriber numbers for X Premium, estimates suggest that the count is less than one million, according to a researcher speaking to Mashable.
This divergence in subscriber numbers between Snapchat+ and Twitter’s X Premium could be indicative of broader trends in the social media landscape. As platforms seek to reduce their reliance on advertising revenue, the ability to offer compelling, exclusive features becomes crucial. Snapchat’s milestone suggests that its strategy of targeting power users with specialized tools and features is paying off, at least in the short term.
For Snapchat, hitting the 5 million subscriber mark for its premium service is not just a numerical achievement; it’s a validation of a business model that seeks to balance user engagement with revenue diversification. As the company inches closer to its goal of 10 million paying users, the Asia Pacific market, with its burgeoning youth population and growing digital connectivity, could be a key area for future growth.
