Netflix loses a lot of subscribers since the end of account sharing
Netflix has implemented the end of account sharing in a few countries and this is resulting in a significant loss in the number of subscribers. In Spain alone, the streaming service has lost a million subscribers according to research firm Kantar.
At the beginning of February, Netflix implemented a monthly fee of 5.99 euros for Spanish users who shared their accounts with another household, as well as technical measures to detect this sharing (IP address, devices used, activity, etc.). This measure is linked to a drop in the number of users of more than a million, two-thirds of whom used someone else’s password, according to the Kantar study relayed by Bloomberg.
Subscription terminations in the first quarter tripled compared to the prior period. Of all remaining Netflix subscribers in Spain, 10% said they planned to unsubscribe during the second quarter.
“We are seeing a cancellation reaction in every market when we break the news”Netflix said when reporting its first-quarter results, expecting the drop to be momentary before users who haven’t paid start signing up for their own accounts. “In Canada, which we believe is a reliable indicator for the United States, our base of paying members is now larger than before the launch of paid sharing and revenue growth has accelerated and is now growing faster than in the USA “said Netflix.
According to Netflix, more than 100 million people around the world use an account that they don’t pay for.
What about France? The end of account sharing is not yet in place, but it is well planned. It will be interesting to see if terminations will be as high as in Spain.
