Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Netflix has lowered or will lower its prices in more than 100 territories.
- The price cuts affect just over 4% of its subscriber base, or more than 10 million people.
- Wealthier countries, including the United States, will not see any price cuts.
netflix is finally doing something its customers will actually appreciate: cutting costs (via Tech Crunch). After a terrible year of price hikes, crackdowns on password sharing, canceled shows and lost subscribers, this is good news for Netflix fans.
Unfortunately, Netflix will lower prices in countries where it is “not deeply penetrated,” a term used by co-CEO Greg Peters during an earnings call. Essentially, this means developing markets, which means price changes won’t affect countries like the US, Canada, UK, etc.
So far, price cuts have appeared in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Kenya, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, Malaysia, in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, among others. The declines affect around 4% of Netflix’s subscriber base or more than 10 million people.
Netflix is likely to lower its prices to try to attract more customers to these markets. Through its crackdown on password sharing, the company plans to make more money from high-profile consumers in places like North America. In other words, the projected increase in wealthy country incomes may subsidize prices in other countries and help the company gain subscribers, which should make it more money in the long run.
Now that it has an ad-supported tier, you shouldn’t expect Netflix to drop its prices in the US or other major markets anytime soon. Unless, of course, customers start cancel netflix en masse. Who knows what might happen then.