While this sounds pretty awesome by itself, what some in the company may find a little troubling is they had predicted 5 million new subscribers.
"The company lost approximately 130,000 subscribers in the United States in Q2, and only gained 2.7 million global subscribers, after projecting it would add 5 million. CEO Reed Hastings blamed the stagnancy on the company’s price hikes, and a lack of original content to bring in new subscribers. The company instituted higher pricing plans in January, one of its biggest increases to date. Plan changes went into effect for both new and returning subscribers. As such, paid memberships in the United States were “essentially flat.” - Julia Alexander, The Verge"
This would have put them more in line with last year when they added 5.5 million new subscribers at this same time.
Does this Mean Cord-Cutting Leveled Off?
It could mean that since they raised their prices earlier this year, new cord-cutters may be signing-up with competitors instead.
Both Hulu and Amazon cost less than the top tier Netflix subscription. Their 4K UHD Plan which works on 4 devices at the same time now costs $16/month. And that comes out to $192/year. While lower cost plans are available. Amazon Prime Video which includes 4K only costs $119/year. But it's only good for two devices.
Netflix Predicts Record Growth in 3rd Quarter
"Netflix is predicting 7 million paid memberships (800,000 in the U.S. and 6.2 million internationally) to be added in the third quarter." Source FierceVideo
While the 3rd quarter has already begun, so far we are not seeing a big increase in numbers from other streaming segments we monitor. It could end up being another disappointing quarter for Netflix.
Their 3rd season of Stranger Things is proving to be a big hit, so it could still turn around and Netflix may meet their target.
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