The struggling streaming giant is trying to grow its subscriber base around the world.
Netflix (nflx) – Get a free reportYou’ve started your long-rumored anti-password-sharing campaign, and your old college roommate, who’s been hijacking your account for years, isn’t happy.
After more than a decade of explosive growth, the streaming giant had a rough 2022, losing 200,000 global subscribers in the three months of the year, bringing its total subscriber count down to just over 221 million.
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Netflix managed to stop the bleeding at the end of the 22nd, adding 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2022, well above the projected million. The company also, after years of insisting this would never happen, introduced a cheaper ad-supported tier, much to the bemusement of Twitter.
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Netflix is trying to find new customers
Netflix didn’t have the best 22, but it’s trying a surprising approach to get its numbers back. In an effort to increase total subscribers, the company has lowered its prices in more than 100 markets worldwide, including Asia, Latin America. America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In total, those regions include “Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Kenya, Iran, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Slovenia, and Bulgaria.” . ,” Variety reports.
Actual price points vary, but in some markets the subscription fee has been cut in half. Netflix raised prices in North America and Western Europe early last year, and hasn’t indicated a price cut is on the cards.
In an earnings call earlier this year, Greg Peters, Netflix’s new co-CEO, said: “When you think about the pricing issue…we want to make that spectrum even broader as we look to serve to more members around the world to try to offer value at those different price points.
“And we’re doing a good job of expanding that range… There are a lot of people around the world in countries where we’re not deeply penetrated, and we have more opportunities to attract them.”
Is Netflix losing subscribers?
Netflix has been on a volatile path in recent months after years of proven success. It ended 2022 with more than 230 million subscribers worldwide, but it continues to lose market share. The “why” depends on who you ask, as everyone in the industry has a different opinion.
Inflation is likely to be a big factor, as families keep a closer eye on their budgets these days. Increased competition in the streaming market is also a likely culprit, as movie and TV fans increasingly feel there are too many platforms these days and no one has the time or money for all of them.
Some analysts wonder if streaming has become a more mature market after its explosive growth in the 10s, and perhaps Netflix has hit a natural ceiling. By now, post-pandemic, anyone interested in trying out the platform has likely already done so. Time will tell if this is really so.
Or maybe people feel that Netflix just has too much stuff, and their approach of making a million shows and movies and hoping people like at least some of them just doesn’t work anymore.
