Netflix gets 1.75M new subscribers, plans to extend password-sharing crackdown

And they used to say that sharing your password is cool...

Netflix on a tablet

Netflix has recently posted its latest financial results that revealed an increase in revenue and paid memberships for the January-March period this year.

Among the drivers of this success are not some amazing new shows — though we have to admit we love Netflix’s catalog — but the “paid sharing” feature, which is essentially a crackdown on password sharing. Apparently, it yielded cool results in its trial markets of Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal. And unsurprisingly, the company plans to roll it to more markets in Q2.

On the other hand, they are very aware that clamping down on account sharing might see “a cancel reaction,” as it was during the demo run in Latin America — but Netflix is confident many will (re)activate their accounts or use the option to add “extra member.”

Year-on-year, revenue grew 4%, though the operating income declined in Q1 2023 as “ongoing expense management and timing of hiring and content spend” affected the bottom line.

As for the rest of the year, the financial outlook is mixed. Netflix expects some of the membership growth and revenue to move to Q3 instead of fitting into Q2. Also, operating profit and revenue are expected to remain flat or slightly down due to currency volatility.

When it comes to engagement, Netflix proudly says it is the clear leader in the market. YouTube is also there at the top.

Netflix prices went down in some markets, with India being the prime testing bed. The company was so impressed with the overall results that led to improved engagement — prompting them to adapt prices in the other 116 markets. Now, this change brought down a 5% decrease in FY ’22 revenues, but they believe the increased adoption in these markets will help offset that in the longer term.

The new ad-supported plan is already working in the United States and has just been expanded to include Canada and Spain.

Finally, for what it’s worth, Netflix is ending its once-core feature – DVD rentals, which have been available since 1998. The final shipments will be sent on September 29, and Netflix thanked its employees that worked on “building the booster rocket that got streaming to a leading position”.

As usual, we end the article with the link to the appropriate VPN list. For this occasion, we — obviously — point you to our page with Best VPNs for Netflix. All the VPNs listed there will let you access the popular streaming service from anywhere and do many other things for you. Check it out.