Netflix now boasts nearly 270 million subscribers worldwide, having attracted more than 9 million additional subscriptions in the first quarter of this year, a significantly higher level than expected. However, the leading streaming platform no longer wishes to rely solely on this growth to remain at the top.
During a conference call following the release of quarterly results, co-CEO Greg Peters stated, "We will undoubtedly see a continuous increase in the number of subscribers, but the overall growth of the company has come to depend on additional drivers, such as improving subscription tiers (...) and advertising revenues, as well as price adjustments based on added value." He added, "These levers are becoming an increasingly important part of our economic model."
The company also announced that it expects a slowdown in subscriber growth during the current quarter and will no longer disclose the number of new subscriptions every three months starting next year. Greg Peters explained that Netflix wants to focus on audience "engagement" metrics (the time spent watching content), as these better reflect the platform's ability to build loyalty and attract users, consequently generating "engagement, revenues, and profits."
Thanks to the significant increase in subscriber numbers, Netflix achieved revenues of $9.37 billion and net profits of $2.3 billion in the first quarter of this year—both figures showing year-over-year increases that also exceeded expectations.
