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from the even-more-screen-time-to-depress-teenagers dept.
Netflix has continued to add millions of new subscribers, even after it raised prices:
Netflix Inc snagged 2 million more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the final three months of 2017, tripling profits at the online video service that is burning money on new programming to dominate internet television around the world.
The results drove Netflix to a market capitalization of more than $100 billion for the first time. Shares jumped 9 percent to over $248 in after-hours trading on Monday after rallying throughout the month and rising 53 percent last year.
The company has signed up more than half of all U.S. broadband households and is building its customer base in 190 countries by spending billions on programming.
Netflix picked up 6.36 million subscribers in international markets from October through December, when it released new seasons of critically acclaimed shows "Stranger Things" and "The Crown" as well as Will Smith action movie "Bright." That topped Wall Street expectations of 5.1 million, according to FactSet.
Along with 1.98 million customer additions in the United States, the company ended the year with 117.58 million streaming subscribers around the globe, despite a price hike in October.
From a Bloomberg op-ed: "The rapid pace of subscriber additions is impressive, but so is the amount of cash going up in flames."
Also at USA Today and The Street.
Previously: Netflix Has More Subscribers Than Major Cable Providers in the U.S.
Disney to Break Away From Netflix With its Own Streaming Service
Netflix Adds 5 Million Subscribers, Doubles Profit
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday January 24 2018, @01:09PM (4 children)
I would predict price increases incoming, wall street is gonna want a return on $1000 per subscriber and $7.99/month isn't going to cut it.
My guess is they're betting the company on some kind of national wireless free bandwidth and then transfer all those juicy $150/mo cable bills to merely $100/mo netflix subscriptions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 24 2018, @03:13PM
For some vaguely related numbers: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394.html [huffingtonpost.com]
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6c5e97/eli5_how_were_isps_able_to_pocket_the_200_billion/ [reddit.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 24 2018, @04:27PM
Sounds good to me. If subscribers don't like it, they're free to unsubscribe. But I wouldn't be too surprised to see tons of people remain subscribers even after prices inflate that much, and just whine about it.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday January 24 2018, @05:42PM (1 child)
I don't subscribe to Cable / Satellite partly due to the insane pricing for content I don't want. Netflix doing the same thing will just mean I find something different. For the vast majority of my life we've not had a TV / Entertainment purchase package. Only in recent years have I had Satellite TV and now Netflix. The Satellite TV wasn't my idea and we got off that bandwagon as soon as possible. We pay for the streaming and 1 DVD which ends up around $20 a month. For that price, she can watch something she wants and I can watch something I want at the same time with the one account.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday January 26 2018, @08:59PM
A decade ago when my kids were little and cable only cost $100/month that was my strategy to work around the "OMFG how can you live without Disney?" Well 5+ kids DVDs per month is still cheaper than cable used to be, although in 2018 the result is I still have kids DVDs in my basement, some of which probably haven't been looked at in a decade. Probably donate them all to the public library in my infinite spare time, or something.