Netflix on Tuesday released its first quarter results with the company highlighting that it has added 15.8 million subscribers during the quarter, representing an 22% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth. The company reported revenues of US$5.77 billion while its total subscriber base has now touched 182 million across the globe. Crucially, Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix said in the earnings call that the company has seen “big growth in viewing in India” with the local originals seen as a “great success.” It has to be noted that the company has rolled out its mobile only plan in India and has resumed its free trials in the country as it takes on Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime.
She and Guilty Among Netflix Success Story in India
Sarandos said that the recently released local originals of Netflix including She and Guilty are among those that have received lots of viewership in India.
“We've seen big growth in viewing in India and have had great success on our local originals there as well, most recently with She and Guilty and a few others, that have really been driving a lot of engagement in local content on our India service,” Sarandos said.
Additionally, Sarandos also said that the international original of Netflix, La Casa de Papel has been a “huge hit” for Netflix in India while its users also receiving other US originals well.
“So we're growing the business, licensed, original, international, domestic, across the board in terms of content and content taste,” Sarandos said.
Netflix Working Hard to Make its Product Attractive to Users
Greg Peters, chief product officer of Netflix said that the company has been working to make its product attractive to the potential members and its current users. Peters said the mobile plan was one such case of Netflix trying to make its product more attractive to users.
Under the mobile plan, users can subscribe to Netflix for Rs 199 per month that enables the users access to Netflix on mobile and tablets.
“We have been working really, really hard to do a lot to try and make our offering in India more competitive, more attractive to members and members-to-be, and there's a bunch of different product features we've been doing, partnerships and payments integrations,” Peters said. “And obviously, this mobile plan is a recent one.”
While the mobile plan was initially tested in India, the company has now rolled out to several countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines.
