Netflix fights back in India
May 3, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Netflix has slashed its subscriber fees for India. It has dropped the price of its basic subs rate in India by 60 per cent from 499 rupees (€6.20) to 199 rupees a month while reducing its higher tier plans by similar rates.
There is also an even lower rate for its popular mobile/cellular plan targeting mobile phone or tablet users which has come down by 50 rupees (from 199 to 149 rupee).
The news is seen as a ‘fight back’ in India and a direct challenge to its rival OTT players operating in India. India is seen as a strong market for OTT users with data suggesting that Indian consumers spend an average of near-5 hours a day on their phones and with considerable focus on video and games content.
The new rates make India the third-cheapest Netflix market (after Pakistan and Kenya).
Consulting firm Omdia says that Netflix has roughly 4.4 million subscribers in India. But this total is well short of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ projection back in 2018 that the company might win around 100 million subscribers in the country.
And Netflix has some ground to make up; Data from Media Partners Asia suggests that Disney+Hotstar, the Disney and Star India collaboration, will likely have 46 million subs by the end of this year and helped hugely by EPL and Indian Premier League cricket within its portfolio. Prime Video already has 18 million subscribers in India with forecasts of 22 million by year-end.