Netflix Inc. has reduced the cost of its service in more than three dozen countries in recent weeks, as it tries to appeal to customers around the world who have an ever-growing list of streaming options.
The streaming company’s recent price cuts span Middle Eastern countries including Yemen, Jordan, Libya and Iran; sub-Saharan African markets including Kenya; and European countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
Netflix’s price changes are a sign that big streamers are still grappling with what pricing will deliver the best combination of subscriber growth and revenue abroad. Consumers can choose between local cable providers, regional streaming services and big global platforms. Big players including Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s HBO Max and Paramount Global’s Paramount+ are all expanding overseas.
Sarah Krouse
We know members have never had more choices when it comes to entertainment, and the company is committed to delivering an experience that exceeds their expectations, a Netflix spokeswoman said. She said the company was updating the pricing of plans in some countries.
It continues to baffle me how journalists constantly overlook Romania in news and reports regarding Eastern Europe. From the article above, you would think Netflix slashed prices only in smaller countries – after all, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria are each less than a third of Romania’s population – but checking their website today I noticed the company updated their pricing here as well, with the basic subscription going down from 7.99 € to 4.99 €. This happens a lot when people share infographics: you get a host of small countries, with Romania nowhere in sight! At least with large-scale statistics you can rationalize the omission by assuming that particular set of data isn’t available for Romania, or gathered in a different method, thus difficult to compare against other countries. But in a brief news item why would you fail to mention the larger countries in the region, where the news is more relevant because of their populations!?
My personal dilemmas aside, this is a welcome change for consumers, one most likely caused by increased competition in international markets. Under the previous pricing plan, Netflix was the most expensive streaming service in Romania at its basic tier – 30% pricier than the next option, Disney+, at about 6 € per month, while HBO Max costs 4.99 € (even 3.33 € for legacy HBO Go accounts) and Prime Video less than 3 €. Rather than having people cancel costly subscriptions, Netflix opted for a lower price that might incentivize consumers to keep paying for the service even as they subscribe to competing providers. Volume over premium pricing should definitely be the right strategy for a non-essential product with high price elasticity. The production costs after all are fixed no matter how many people subscribe, so you should try to garner as many (paying) viewers as possible, even at lower prices.
I went ahead with canceling my Netflix subscription in December last year, and started paying for Prime Video – I have a lot of series to catch up on! Despite the criticism online about the Prime Video app, I can’t say I’ve found things to complain about. The downside here though is the content library; I constantly find shows and movies which are advertised as available on Prime Video, but nowhere to be found when I search for them in-app – including many European productions. I have to assume various licensing issues are at fault here, but it detracts from the overall experience, especially when competitors are much better at offering their licensed series to all their European customers – Netflix has a clear advantage in this regard.
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