Netflix has been expanding at a rapid rate. Not only is the subscription streaming service investing in a slew of original programs, the company has also been expanding rapidly, adding 130 in January of 2016 alone. However, now that the rapid expansion has occurred, Netflix may be running into problems. Mainly because the worldwide company may not be best equipped to provide content in countries such as India.
New reports indicate that countries like India and elsewhere in Southeast Asia have been able to produce a slew of streaming services to compete with Netflix. While Netflix is more expensive, these services are often available to consumers on the cheap. Plus, Quartz is noting that the Netflix competitors have some distinct advantages.
For instance, one of these companies, Eros, is located in India and only charges the equivalent of 80 cents for its most basic subscription. In southeast Asia, Hooq and iFlix only charge the equivalent of $2-3 per month, compared to Netflix’s basic subscription, which costs between $7-10. Other services offer content that Netflix hasn’t expressed a big desire to get into, including live sports. In addition to all of this, in many areas people don't use credit cards, and some of these more local companies have figured out ways to bill locally without relying on the credit card system. Netflix has not.
Obviously, it’s a big deal that Netflix has originals that are known worldwide. It’s a really big benefit for the subscription streaming company that it doesn’t have to work out complex deals to get its American-based shows into places as varied as the UK or India. The company is also striving to put together a slew of different originals that might fit a different type of audience. For instance, a huge chunk of Narcos is shot in Spanish and the upcoming Marseille has been shot in French. A German series, Dark, is also in the works. Netflix also caters its content in different countries so that more programming in each country’s native language is available.
Still, it can be hard to compete if there are other companies that are cheaper and catering to more native content in a given area. Netflix is mostly known for its originals and a lot of those originals are shot in English and must be watched using subtitles in countries that don't speak the language.
Netflix has a lot of great originals and has clearly been able to dominate the streaming service market in a lot of places. Competition is inevitable, and maybe the large streaming service won't eventually be able to maintain a stronghold in as many countries as it is currently crushing in. Still, it's not off to a bad start. You can see all of the originals Netflix has coming up in the months to come with our Netflix premiere schedule.
