Netflix estimates that 100 million people worldwide use its platform without paying. And he intends to make them pay.
Netflix isn’t so “chill” anymore with users sharing accounts without paying. The subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform announced a loss of 200,000 paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, the first decline in its growth in a decade. She hoped to earn 2.5 million more.
The multinational was forced to admit: “ Our revenue growth has slowed significantly, as shown in our results and forecast below “, announces the letter to the shareholders from the beginning.
Among several reasons mentioned, one emerges strongly: the sharing of Netflix IDs between subscribers and non-subscribers. ” In addition to our 222 million paid subscribers, we estimate that 100 million households share Netflix accounts, including 30 million in the United States and Canada. “, describes the company. ” As a percentage of our paying subscribers, that number hasn’t changed much, but when you add it to [d’autres facteurs]this means that it is more difficult for us to grow in certain markets. »
Netflix lost subscribers for the first time
The multinational explains that it did not detect this problem earlier because it would have beencurbed by the growth caused by the covid “. The successive confinements linked to the global coronavirus pandemic have indeed caused a large increase in the number of paying subscribers, setting records never seen before: +15 million in Q1 2020, +10 million for the second quarter. Then, inevitably, the gradual descent, towards more modest growth at the start of 2021. “ Someone who hasn’t subscribed to Netflix for the duration of the confinement is unlikely to subscribe immediately after the confinement. “, had notably dropped a lucid Reed Hastings.
How to earn more money? By making those who don’t pay pay
The letter to shareholders of April 19, 2022 is clear: one of Netflix’s objectives is to succeed in charging those who share codes when they do not live under the same roof. ”This is a great opportunity, as these households are already watching Netflix and taking advantage of our service. Sharing has probably helped fuel our growth by allowing more people to use and enjoy Netflix. And we’ve always tried to make it easier to share within a member’s household, with features like profiles and multiple streams. “, can we read.
” Although these have been very popular, they have created confusion around when and how Netflix can be shared with other households. So early last year we started testing different approaches to monetize sharing, and in March we introduced two new paid sharing features, where current members have the option of paying for additional households, in three Latin American markets.Netflix has indeed offered in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru systems of “sub-accounts” so that accounts can host others, which would pay less, but which would still pay.
” Although we cannot monetize everything at the moment, we believe that this is a great opportunity in the short to medium term. “, insists the platform.
Reed Hastings also announced, on April 19, 2022, that another company marker would change: the platform should accommodate advertising in certain types of subscriptions, which will cost less.
Netflix’s 180° on account sharing
In the space of seven years, Netflix has made a turnaround on the subject of sharing passwords and identifiers. In 2016, the company promised that it would not hunt down those who cheat, even if the application displays a black screen from the start as soon as the maximum authorized number of screens is exceeded. Three years later, Netflix assured, through the voice of its product manager Greg Peters, that it had “no big announcements to make at the moment, we have no plans to do things differently at the moment.”
Then, the streaming service quietly began combating illegal account sharing in 2021, sending warning messages to unsubscribed users suggesting they could sign up for the platform themselves and pay their own way. subscription.
It is well written in the rules of use of the platform that it is forbidden to share your Netflix codes with your friends: “ The Netflix service, and any content viewed through the service, is for personal, non-commercial use only and should not be shared with anyone outside of your household. reads Netflix’s Terms of Service.