Netflix targeting India at €4 per sub
July 23, 2019
By Chris Forrester
Netflix is contemplating an ultra-low pricing plan for India subscribers at just 300 Rupees (about €3.90) per month.
Netflix told analysts during its Q2/2019 results call last week that India would need a less expensive plan, with CEO Reed Hastings saying: “After several months of testing, we’ve decided to roll out a lower-priced mobile-screen plan in India to complement our existing plans. We believe this plan, which will launch in Q3, will be an effective way to introduce a larger number of people in India to Netflix and to further expand our business in a market where Pay TV ARPU is low (below $5). We will continue to learn more after launch of this plan.”
Chief content officer Ted Sarandos, on the same analysts call, said that Netflix was in India for the “long haul”.
One option being widely mooted for Netflix is a ‘mobile only’ subscription plan of 250 Rupees per month.
Netflix is currently available in India at Rs500 per month (SD onto one device) or 650 Rupees (HD onto two devices) and 800 Rupees per month (UHD onto 4 devices). Each service allows unlimited access to Netflix’s content catalogue, and offer the first month of ‘free viewing’. However, Netflix is far from alone in offering OTT content in India.
Market leader is Disney-backed Hotstar which has two top tier products: Hotstar VIP at just 365 Rupees per annum, or Hotstar Premium at 199 Rupees per month (or 999 Rupees per annum).
Amazon’s Prime Video is also available at Rs 999 annually (or Rs 129 a month). Sony ‘Liv’ is Rs 499 annually, while Zee5 is charged at Rs999 annually.