Netflix expects paying subscriber growth to level off in the first half of 2021

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Netflix expects much less strong growth in the number of paid subscribers in the first half of 2021. Although these subscribers have grown in the past three months, the growth was much lower compared to the same period a year earlier .

Netflix said in a statement to its quarterly results that it had expected the total number of paying subscribers to now be at 210 million, but that has come to 208 million at the end of the quarter. In the same period last year, it added 15.8 million paying subscribers, while Netflix has not welcomed more than four million new paying subscribers in the past three months. The company expects this flattening growth to continue, with a forecast of one million new paying users for the coming quarter, while the company added 10.1 million paying subscribers in the second quarter of last year.

As an explanation for this slowdown in growth figures, Netflix points to the significant growth last year due to the corona pandemic, which means that it is now disappointing. The service also points to a smaller supply of new content for the first half of this year, caused by production delays due to Covid-19. Netflix does expect a significant revival in the second half of this year, partly because new seasons of a number of major series will be released. These include The Witcher, Sex Education, La Casa de Papel and You.

Financially, the company continues to show good numbers. Revenue for the quarter was $7.2 billion, an increase of 24 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. In recent quarters, turnover has increased by more than 20 percent. The profit came in at 1.7 billion and that remained at a profit of 709 million dollars a year earlier in the same period.

Netflix explains these current financial figures by pointing to the corona crisis. As a result, there were more subscribers at the end of last year than there probably would have been without this crisis, leading to the current record sales figure. Netflix explains the higher profits, saying it is still ramping up production levels, reducing its content creation costs in the quarter.

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