Netflix increased its standard and premium plans prices this Thursday. From $12.99 and $15.99, it raises to $13.99 and $17.99 (per month).
According to the company, the pricing changes will be seen on the customers’ bills for the next two months. They will also give notice to the customers 30-days earlier to these changes. The company already hinted at the hike at price in its latest earnings report.
As Netflix continues to develop quality content for its audience, it believes that they deserve to gain a little more. The Netflix spokesperson also stated that this increase helps them produce more variety of quality films and shows. He added that Netflix would offer a selection of plans from which customers can choose.
This boost in pricing isn’t surprising since Netflix spends billions of dollars on producing its contents. The hike of price news comes a week after the company releases its report, showing its slow growth in new subscriptions.
Netflix shined in the first two quarters of 2020, which helped the company stocks grow up about 70% this year. That being said, it is also the suggested reason behind the slow growth of Netflix’s new subscriptions – because lots of people already subscribed amid the earlier months.
Initially, Netflix expects 2.5 million additions to new paid memberships in the quarter. Yet, it reported 28.1 million paid memberships, which vastly exceeds their initial expectation. The company predicts to add six million more to their paid memberships in the final three months of 2020.
Netflix also looks forward to downing paid net ads in the first half of next year.
Can these changes in prices keep the audiences?
Some analysts question the hike of Netflix plans as they believe it could result in losing some customers. Also, a streaming video survey created by Bernie McTernan shows that respondents would cancel their subscription if the prices increased.
However, Netflix did not provide any clear-cut about their pricing plans. Greg Peters, COO of Netflix, stated that their subscribers’ investment would develop their service and value.
Greg Peters added that Netflix is considering new ways of gaining new consumers, such as offering free Netflix to a whole country for the weekend, which they plan to try in India.