Netflix Hints At Price Increase In Strong Q1 Earnings Report
It should come as no surprise that Netflix is doing well, and indeed the company’s Q1 earnings report evinces just that. Revenues are up across the board--with the lone exception of its international streaming business, which is still less in the red than ever and will turn black sometime this year--and Netflix has successfully cracked into the difficult original content business, but even so, new customers will likely see a rate hike.
“Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only,” reads the report. “These changes will enable us to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience.” Existing members will remain at the current $7.99 per month rate for streaming-only service “for a generous time period”.
For frequent users of Netflix, paying $9 or $10 is still a terrific bargain, especially as many people are content enough with the service (and other options) that they ditch pricey satellite and cable bills.
We hope, however, that “an even better streaming experience” isn’t code for “we have to pay more money to Comcast and are passing on the cost to the consumer”, because that would make everyone insane with rage. (You wouldn’t do that to us, would you Netflix?)
Other interesting tidbits from the earnings report include the following:
-Netflix’s U.S. streaming subscriber base grew by 2.25 million this quarter, up to 35.7 million total.
-Netflix reiterated that Roku TV will be available in the fall, which lends credence to the hope that the product isn’t vaporware.
-Netflix is in a catfight with AT&T, and the former stated that AT&T’s U-Verse fiber service is getting outperformed by DSL providers such as Frontier, CenturyLink, and Windstream.
-Despite paying Comcast for better service, Netflix opposes the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger, for obvious anti-competitive reasons.
-There are still 6.7 million subscribers receiving DVDs and Blu-rays by mail, which is down from almost 8 million year-over-year and from almost 7 million for the period ending December 31st.
-According to a survey, Netflix is second to only HBO in terms of respondent’s view of who has the best original programming.
-There is a mountain of original programming coming from Netflix in the next year or two; the company is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with on multiple fronts.
“Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only,” reads the report. “These changes will enable us to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience.” Existing members will remain at the current $7.99 per month rate for streaming-only service “for a generous time period”.
For frequent users of Netflix, paying $9 or $10 is still a terrific bargain, especially as many people are content enough with the service (and other options) that they ditch pricey satellite and cable bills.
We hope, however, that “an even better streaming experience” isn’t code for “we have to pay more money to Comcast and are passing on the cost to the consumer”, because that would make everyone insane with rage. (You wouldn’t do that to us, would you Netflix?)
Other interesting tidbits from the earnings report include the following:
-Netflix’s U.S. streaming subscriber base grew by 2.25 million this quarter, up to 35.7 million total.
-Netflix reiterated that Roku TV will be available in the fall, which lends credence to the hope that the product isn’t vaporware.
-Netflix is in a catfight with AT&T, and the former stated that AT&T’s U-Verse fiber service is getting outperformed by DSL providers such as Frontier, CenturyLink, and Windstream.
-Despite paying Comcast for better service, Netflix opposes the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger, for obvious anti-competitive reasons.
-There are still 6.7 million subscribers receiving DVDs and Blu-rays by mail, which is down from almost 8 million year-over-year and from almost 7 million for the period ending December 31st.
-According to a survey, Netflix is second to only HBO in terms of respondent’s view of who has the best original programming.
-There is a mountain of original programming coming from Netflix in the next year or two; the company is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with on multiple fronts.
