Netflix 40m subs, global ambition
October 22, 2013
Netflix has added more than 10 million subscribers in the last 12 months, taking it to 40 million overall, according to the company’s latest quarterly results.
Netflix reported revenues of $1.1 billion and a net profit of $32 million for the third quarter of 2013. Around 31 million of its members are in the US, while 9.2 million are elsewhere in the world.
The company’s growth is partly driven by its original series such as House of Cards, although Netflix continued its policy of not announcing viewing figures for any of the shows that it commissioned.
The company is planning to double its budget for original content in 2014, however, Netflix also stressed that the shows it acquires following their runs on cable and broadcast TV are also doing well.
“While our original series get most of the headlines, a bigger percentage of overall Netflix viewing is generated by our exclusive complete season-after series,” chief executive Reed Hastings told investors.
Netflix reported 1.3 million net additions to subs in the third quarter for the US, and 1.4 million elsewhere in the world, fuelled by launches in the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
“Our success this year in increasing international net additions to nearly the level of our domestic net additions shows substantial momentum and confirms our belief there is a big international opportunity for Netflix,” said Hastings.
Netflix also said that tablets and mobile phones are “rapidly growing” devices for usage, but also cited its partnership with Virgin Media in the UK as a sign of its plans to work more with ISPs and cable operators.
“We are open to more of these integrations with cable set-tops around the world, but given the fragmented technology footprints, we think it will be many years before cable set-top boxes match Internet set-top boxes for Netflix streaming volume,” said Hastings.
“As a general rule, we’re happy to support devices from other video providers as long as we get application placement commensurate with our popularity.”