Netflix reports slowing subscriber growth; shares slide
21 October, 2020
Netflix shares slid on Tuesday after the U.S. streaming tv titan reported that subscriber growth slowed in the recently ended quarter after booming in the first days of the pandemic.
While Netflix added 28.1 million paying subscribers so far this year, only 2.2 million of these came in the 3rd quarter, the business said in an earnings release letter.
"We think that is primarily because of our record first-half results and the pull-forward effect," Netflix said in the letter.
The streaming television set giant, now facing an array of competitors, reported it has slightly a lot more than 195 million subscribers.
Growth was strongest in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the earnings figures.
"We’re happy with the progress we’re making in this region and, in particular, that we’ve achieved double-digit penetration of broadband homes in both South Korea and Japan," Netflix said. "While this is encouraging, we still have much work to do and we're spending so much time to reproduce this success in India and other countries."
The streaming tv set service expected to add 6 million new subscribers through the current quarter, bringing the full total number of members added because of this year to a record-setting 34 million.
Netflix reported a net gain of $790 million on earnings of $6.4 billion, handily topping the same period last year.
Netflix shares were down 4.8 percent in after-market trades that following the release of the wages figures.
"Good and careful progress" has been made in terms of making original content deemed critical to winning and keeping subscribers, according to Netflix.
Production, derailed in the pandemic, is back on the right track for hit shows including "Stranger Things" and "The Witcher," as well as on an action film starring Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds, the business said.
Netflix expressed confidence it could complete shooting on over 150 productions by year-end, and that the amount of Netflix originals launched in 2021 would top the quantity launched this year.
"Competition for consumers' time and engagement remains vibrant," Netflix said.
"Linear tv set and other big categories of entertainment, like video gaming and user made content from YouTube and TikTok are all vying for consumers’ attention and so are strong drivers of screen time usage."
Apple, Comcast, Disney and others also have taken on Netflix with streaming television set services of their own.
Source: japantoday.com
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