Netflix passes 60m subscribers, plans Europe expansion
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Version 0 of 1. Netflix is planning a big marketing push in Europe to win over new subscribers, after passing 60 million members globally. A new series of House of Cards and the launch of new programmes such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt helped the streaming service reached 62.3 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2015, up from 57.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Roughly 40 million of Netflix’s subscribers are in the US and the San Francisco-headquartered company said it now plans to shift some of its US marketing budget to Europe to “take advantage of the substantial available growth opportunities”. Netflix said it also hopes to make progress winning customers in new markets such as Australia and New Zealand and plans to launch in Japan later this year. The company will also begin encrypting its service to help protect user’s privacy and security. The move could help insulate Netflix from criticism from internet providers, many of whom are unhappy with how much bandwidth Netflix uses and want to prioritise other services above it. Netflix accounts for as much as 35% of all internet usage in the US at peak times. Netflix revenue rose to $1.57 billion in the first three months of the year, up from $1.48 billion in the prior quarter, but profitability declined from $83 million to $24 million. Netflix blamed the strong dollar, which meant the company took a $15 million writedown when converting foreign earnings back into the US currency. The company reiterated plans to run close to break-even this year and next as it focuses on winning new customers and then focus on profit in 2017. Netflix shares jumped over 11% in pre-market trading. |