That’s good news for the wallets of millions of Netflix users. According to information from wall street journal, the video streaming giant will lower its prices in more than 30 countries, sometimes even by half. But unfortunately for us, France is not part of this tariff readjustment.
This reduction will only apply in countries where Netflix believes it has strong growth prospects. In other words, only where the platform struggles to get and keep new users. According to our colleagues, these would be countries in the Middle East (in Iran, Yemen or Jordan for example), Southeast Asia (in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand or the Philippines), Africa (such as Kenya and Libya), continental Europe (in Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria) and South America (in Nicaragua, Ecuador and Venezuela).
Between 30 and 50% reduction
And for some users, the discount will be more than substantial. In Venezuela, for example, the Essential subscription will go from 7.99 to 3.99 dollars per month, the Standard plan from 10.99 to 5.99 dollars per month, and the Premium plan from 13.99 to 7.99. dollars per month. In the Philippines, the tariff will drop by about 30%. In general, the reductions are between 30% and 50% of the previous rate.
“We are looking to serve more members around the world by trying to provide appropriate value at these different price points, and we are doing a good job expanding this range. […] There are a lot of people around the world in countries where we are not yet well established, and we have the opportunity to go and attract them”, had justified the co-CEO of the company, Greg Peters, during of the announcement of the financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022.
However, in recent years, the trend has been rather upward in price. In 2021, the platform had notably increased its prices in France, going from 7.99 to 8.99 euros for the Essential subscription, from 11.99 to 13.49 euros for the Standard version and from 15.99 to 17, 99 euros for the Premium rate.
Fierce competition
But in early 2022, Netflix, long the number one platform by number of subscribers, lost users for the first time. With the arrival of other platforms such as Disney+, HBOMax, AppleTV+, Canal+ and Amazon Prime Video, competition is fierce. “We know that our subscribers have never had so many choices in terms of entertainment and we are committed to providing an experience that goes beyond their expectations,” the company explained to wall street journal, confirming to have reduced prices in “certain countries”, without naming them. Half-word, Netflix therefore attributes this drop in prices to the explosion of competition.
To go up the slope, and increase its income, the streaming platform is therefore betting on more attractive subscriptions. But not only. Last October, the company also launched a cheaper subscription, but with advertising, in 12 markets (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and South Korea). In France, this offer at a bargain price is offered at 5.99 euros per month.
Another measure: the end of the sharing of Netflix accounts. Of Netflix’s 223 million paying subscribers in 2022, nearly 100 million households enjoyed the streaming service for free through account sharing, a huge shortfall for the company. As 20 minutes explained to you in this article, in a few weeks, sharing a Netflix account will only be allowed to residents of one and the same household. In this case, you will have to pay for an additional option.
Hope remains all the same, Netflix does not rule out deploying this drop in subscription prices in other countries in the coming months.