America’s leading OTT platform, Netflix has added 25.8 million new paid subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region in the fourth quarter of 2021. This is also the highest number of increase in the number of subscribers in any one quarter. Especially in Japan and South Korea, there has been an increase in the number of its subscribers.
Asia is one of the smallest markets for Netflix. Netflix’s three biggest markets in terms of subscribers are North America, Latin America, and then Europe. Netflix has a total of 32.6 million subscribers in Asia, which is 14 percent of its total subscriber base. Netflix has a total of 2218 million subscribers.
However, Netflix is now focusing on other markets including Asia to increase its growth and number of subscribers. Most of Netflix’s subscribers in the past few quarters have come from Asia, and this has been largely attributed to the company’s success in Japan and South Korea.
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Although Netflix has got the same success in Japan and South Korea, it has not yet got the same success in India. The Indian market still remains an enigma for Netflix and it is getting stiff competition from other OTT platforms as well.
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings said in an earnings conference call on January 20, “We are growing rapidly in almost every major market. So what frustrates us is why we are in India. Not so successful. Certainly we are facing some challenges there.”
price drop
Netflix entered India in 2016. Since then, for the first time in December, it made a big cut in its entry-level plan. Netflix’s entry level plan is now available for Rs 199 per month, which was Rs 499 per month earlier.
Apart from this, the company has also launched a ‘mobile-only’ plan to add more users, the starting price of which is now Rs 149 per month.
Hastings said, “The most unique thing about India is cable TV. It is available for the whole family for an average price of around $3 (Rs 223), which is totally different from other countries in the world. Expectations have also been made accordingly.” Hastings said that it is for these reasons that the company has decided to make its entry-level plans cheaper in India.
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