Facing new competition from some of the world’s largest media companies, Netflix Inc is showcasing its biggest advantage: a head start abroad.
Netflix has more than 90 million customers outside the US and Canada, including 47.4 million in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, and 29.4 million in Latin America, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
The company issued the information to prepare investors and analysts for its next earnings report, when it would break out financial data across four regions for the first time.
RIVALS
The overseas presence puts Netflix well ahead of streaming rivals, such as Walt Disney Co’s Disney+, which debuted last month, and AT&T Inc’s HBO Max, slated to be released in May next year.
It also helps make up for Netflix’s slowdown in its home country.
Netflix has more than 60 million customers in the US, accounting for more than half of broadband homes. However, it is on pace for its fewest customer additions since the company split its streaming service from its DVD business in 2011.
Netflix calls itself a global service and has banked its future on building a TV network that is as appealing in Brazil, France and Japan as at home.
Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings has frequently cited Facebook Inc and YouTube as two tech giants he looks to emulate.
They each have more than 2 billion users, though those services are generally free.
Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, is to release more than 130 seasons of programs from other countries next year, outpacing most US media companies’ domestic output.
“A lot of these titles that are hugely impactful in the country where they’re produced also tend to travel throughout the region, sometimes around the world,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos told investors in October.
BROAD CLIENTELE
Netflix added about 28 million customers in Europe over the past three years, and it is on pace for its most gross additions yet — all while raising prices.
The average customer in the EMEA region pays US$10.26, the highest rate outside of the US and Canada.
Netflix has touted its growth in Latin America over the years, and the Monday filing reveals the company has more than 29 million customers in the region. That is about one-third of broadband homes.
The Asia-Pacific region is the biggest question mark, especially as Netflix goes after consumers who are sensitive to price.
Netflix is experimenting with lower-cost plans in India and Indonesia, countries that are home to more than 1.5 billion people.
Netflix investors are to get a better sense of its progress on Jan. 21, when the company is slated to release fourth-quarter earnings.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS