Netflix number of subscribers no longer increasing
The number of subscribers at Netflix is no longer increasing. The number of subscribers was 221.64 million at the end of March 2022, 200,000 less than at the end of December 2021. It is the first time in ten years that the number of members has fallen. The share price fell sharply after the announcement, partly because the streaming service had previously expected an increase in subscribers.
According to Netflix, the streaming phenomenon is winning over linear television and Netflix titles are popular, but is struggling with shared accounts and increased competition (Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, pple TV+, Viaplay and in the Netherlands also providers such as Videoland, NPO Plus, Pathé Thuis, Cinetree, Cineart and others), The main reason, however, is the cessation of services in Russia.
Lockdowns
Netflix also points out that the corona crisis gave a distorted picture, with people often becoming subscribers to Netflix because of lockdowns. The company plans to change its subscription sharing policy. An estimated 100 million households use other people's accounts. In Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, a variant is already being tested where extra users cost more money with a subscription. The service can use additional verifications for this. Netflix is also considering introducing a cheaper variant with advertising in order to attract more customers.
Netflix emphasizes that most American entertainment companies view foreign countries from the United States as export and sales areas of American content. Netflix consciously says that it also invests in local content in the areas where the company is active. It produces content in more than 50 countries.
Russia
The end of service in Russia cost the company 700,000 subscribers. If that were not taken into account, the company would have 500,000 more subscribers. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Netflix has 73.73 million subscribers. This is 300 thousand less because of the Russian situation; disregarding this, there were 400 thousand more. That is still considerably less than the multi-million increase in the previous quarters.
In the EMEA region, revenue increased slightly to $2.562 billion and an average subscriber pays $11.56 per month (a US/Canadian subscriber pays an average of $14.91 per month). In the United States and Canada, the number of subscribers falls by 640,000 to 74.58 million.
