Bad news for Netflix: the streaming service said it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022.
And things look set to get much worse, as Netflix itself predicts a global loss of paid subscribers of 2 million for the second quarter.
The company explained that the loss of subscribers is related to a number of factors. In particular, the suspension of its service in Russia led to the loss of 700,000 subscribers. Netflix says that without these tragic events it would have seen 500,000 more net subscribers in the quarter.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have had a further impact on other regions, as Netflix said it saw a slowdown in its operations in Central and Eastern Europe in March, a period that coincided with the start of the invasion.
In addition, Netflix referred to other factors that have contributed to the decline in subscriber numbers.
The streamer pointed to numerous points, from password sharing to the competitive landscape, Covid and even inflation to explain why the acquisition of new users is going particularly slowly.
The decline in the number of users occurred despite the recent arrival in the catalogue of popular titles such as the film The Adam Project and the second season of Bridgerton, which paradoxically set new viewing records in the history of the platform.
For this reason, Netflix plans to offer consumers cheaper, advertising-supported subscriptions in the next year or two. This is a first for the streamer, which is clearly trying to increase its subscriber base by countering strong competition from its competitors. The American company firmly believes in the success of this initiative. This is nothing new for the industry; it is new for Netflix. Will it be enough to combat increasingly fierce competition and stop the haemorrhaging of subscribers? It is still too early to say.
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