Disney Plus is now supported by VIDAA, an operating system that powers a purported 20 million Hisense and Toshiba smart TVs globally, with heavy concentrations in territories like Australia and Africa.
The added device accessibility will aid Disney's ongoing expansion plans for its subscription streaming services, with the company planning to enter South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan next month.
As for VIDAA, the Linux-based, Google Assistant-integrated operating system was first developed by Hisense in 2014. In 2019, Hisense spun the software into its own company, VIDAA USA.
The most recent iteration of the OS was introduced in May.
Hisense sells smart TV's powered by Roku. And very recently--this morning, in fact--Comcast announced a new line of smart TVs made by Hisense and interfaced by a new OS based on the cable operator's X1 video platform.
As of last year, Hisense said VIDAA had 20 million users across "Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East."
"Our cooperation with The Walt Disney Company is a major milestone for our organisation, "said Guy Edri, executive VP of VIDAA USA. "Bringing Disney Plus to the VIDAA platform globally is just the first step. We're looking forward to working with Disney on ways to expand our collaboration and opportunities to bring their full suite of streaming services to our customers in the future. Today marks not only the launch of an amazing service on a state-of-the-art platform, but a start of a long-term relationship between two companies, each a leader in its industry."
