Netflix has added around 16 million new subscribers over the first 3 months of 2020. It is almost double the number of new registrations in 2019. The streaming service has been on the back of some of the multi-million dollar production houses. Due to lockdown, shooting of almost all of its shows and movies has been halted across the world.
But still, the share price of this home entertainment giant has crossed over 30% in 2020 because it has been a helping hand to people who ended up at home during the shutdown period.
Eric Haggstrom, an eMarketer analyst, said, “Netflix is the least affected media company due to Coronavirus lockdown and it will be. This streaming platform has been a great entertainment partner to those who are housebound all of a sudden.”
Over the past months, the streaming service has faced so much demand that it had to limit the video quality to 480p in most countries to keep its service going without heavy loads on the server. In order to handle the increased demand, the company had to hire over 2000 additional support staff.
According to Netflix, Spenser Confidential (its original movie) had been watched by over 85 million people for 2 minutes at the same time, i.e. the cut-off used by the platform to calculate the number of views. At the same time, Tiger King (documentary series) had been watched by over 64 million people.
Over the next three months, Netflix has been looking forward to having 7.5 million subscribers. But investors need to keep in mind that the number of viewers and growth could decline if lockdowns are lifted by the governments worldwide.
According to Netflix, it is sticking to its releasing schedule in June and also planning to buy more movies to stay up-to-date with its listings. Delays on upcoming original shows and seasons may affect the growth of membership in future.
The recent growth of subscribers has grabbed the attention of investors. But sudden spectacular growth of internet users worldwide is not that impressive, especially when most of the people have to stay at home. The bigger question is still the same. Will the number of subscribers still be the same even after COVID-19 shutdown?
In addition, Amazon Prime and Disney+ are the next big players giving tough competition to Netflix worldwide. Both of them have a huge library of content, which is enough to grab more sign-ups.
Content is the king of the streaming world. Netflix needs to work harder on its lineup because there is no lack of rivals in the market. For example, HBO Max is also releasing Justice League Snyder Cut later this year.
However, Netflix has added around 7 million new subscribers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, which is the largest growth over there. Currently, the streaming giant has over 182 million subscribers across the world.